Reckoning
by LunarChaos1998
Summary: ***Post-Rapture*** Luce and Daniel's lives are perfect...or so they thought. Old Memories resurface and with that new enemies. Things take a turn for the worse and lives are lost. Who will survive the reckoning? *Disclaimer.* All characters belong to Lauren Kate
1. Prologue

**Preface**

* * *

Blood and Pain, were everywhere. Blood ran across the ground, soaking into my clothes and my wings. I shivered in shock and disgust. My beautiful pure white/silver feathers slowly stiffening with the metallic scented fluid. I heard my beloved's horrified and lamentful cry. Every fiber of my being willed my body to get up and fight and make my way to sooth that cry but sharp pain was everywhere like a neverending scream deep inside my body which shocked my body into immobility. A shadow fell over my body and I was greeted with a lion-like grin, exposing sharp white teeth. The figure wielding a brillant sword. The blade of obsidian, the fuller of the blade had magnificent silver swirls. the silver cross guard curving out and then up as if resembling horns. The monster let out a cruel smirk of satisfaction before the blade plunged into my chest with one clean, quick motion.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

_****** 2 Months Earlier. ******_

* * *

**Luce's POV**

I dashed out of the suffocating auditorium after the completion of my last final, greeted by a laugh from Daniel, who hopped off his perch on a wall and came towards me pushing my hair back. "That bad huh? That you needed to run?" He teased. "I swear I'm going to need a real psychiatrist after that exam." I smile back before going on tip-toe and brushed my lips off his. "Hey." I grin as I pull back slightly. "Hello to you too." Daniel smiled. "So nearly-Doctor Prior you ready to hit the road?" Daniel grinned and wiggled his eyebrows mischievously.

I had almost forgotten about how I had promised Daniel, I'd spend the summer with him and his family in the Bahamas. The worry suddenly set in again. Here was this amazing upper-classman with a straight-laced family who owned a holiday home in the Bahamas and a few other places. Here I was, barely scraping by, living off a swimming scholarship and working 9-to-5 on the weekends at a local caught my expression Daniel's face dropped it's mischievous look and he looked at me. "You're not having second thoughts are you?" Daniel asked concerned pulling back to take in my expression. "No no no no, I'm not. It's just..." I say cracking my knuckles and his hands quickly cover my hands to stop my awful habit. "What if your family don't like me? I mean I'm not like...rich...I just feel like Jack and Rose you know.." I say squinting at him. "As in Titanic?" Daniel smirked. "Wait! So you're a dude." He gasped. I swatted him playfully. "That makes you the girl." I point out. "Well I mean, when I was little my sister's used to dress me up in dresses and give me manicures so I kind of saw it coming." He chuckled before pulling me to him. "Luce, My family are going to love you. You're funny, smart and down-to-earth unlike most girls here." He said casting an eye at our surroundings. "Heard that!" Nora chimed in as she arrived rolling my suitcases towards us. "I didn't mean you either Nora." Daniel smiled before tousling her hair playfully almost as if Nora were his little sister. Nora knocked him off of her. "Be warned, Green. I am in the progress of becoming a black belt." Nora said seriously though we all knew she just being playful as she handed over my suitcases. "Bon Voyage, mes amis." She said in her french. "A bientot." Daniel winked. Nora and Luce pounced on each-other hugging each other tightly. "Promise me, you'll come visit whenever you escape Prince Charming over there." Nora said into Luce's hair. "Of course and I'II call as soon as I get there." Luce replied. "You better, I'II need all the dets on Charming's exotic apartment." Nora chimed making Luce laugh before releasing her best friend and waved one last time before making her way to Daniel's black Porsche 911, he'd already triumphantly stuffed the suitcases into the car and grinned at Luce. "Told ya I could do it." He winked. Luce rolled her eyes as she slid into the passenger seat of the car and stabbed the buckle before Daniel now sat in the car reached over and buckled her in and kissed her cheek. "Come on or we'll miss our flight." Daniel smiled before putting the car into drive and off they went. Luce opened the window and put her hand out into the cool air. "Be prepared for a cozy 29 Degrees Celsius." Daniel grinned as he glanced at her. Before long we were at the airport and past security. I smirked "O shut up." Daniel blushed. "That security officer got _pretty_ handsy with you." I teased giggling before Daniel punched my shoulder playfully. "What ever made the alarm go off?" I asked him. "I forgot to take my keys out of my pocket." He mumbled and I laughed. "God I love you." I giggled before kissing him softly.

For the next hour before boarding we spent the time sitting down and either talking, reading or trying to beat the others score in Flappy Bird just before the announcement of the commencement of our flights boarding, I had gone to get Daniel and I a drink and as I turned from the counter of Starbucks, I knocked into someone. Sending their drink to the ground. "O god, I'm so sorry!" I said in shock before the emerald eyes looked up at me and a sense of knowing washed over me. A look of shock danced in his eyes too. "No, No it's fine, really I didn't like the Iced Frappé anyway." He smiled. "I'm Luce." I smile. "Cam, enchantée." He smiled back. "Luce! We're boarding." Daniel's voice said from behind us before noticing the figure infront of me and he frowned. "Daniel this is Cam, I accidently spilt his...whatever it was." I informed him. "Daniel, Have we met?" Daniel said to Cam. Cam's lips pursed then frowned and he shook his head. "No, that that I recall." He offered. "If you'd excuse me, Have a nice flight." He called as he jogged towards another guy with dreadlocks who watched us. "This is weird." Daniel said. "I know right." I agreed. "Well come on, I worked my butt off to maintain my bikini body." I joked as I tugged him to the gate. "I know you did." He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows again but his tone seemed distant and I knew what he was thinking. We both recognized that guy but from where?


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

* * *

**Luce's POV **

After a pretty uneventful flight we disembarked the plane hand-in-hand.

"So how are we getting to Casa-del-Green?" I mused

A Cheshire cat grin spread across Daniel's face as he looked at me.

"Here, my dear Luce is where you meet my grizzly bear of a brother Everett." He grinned.

I smile back, he'd told me about Everett, Everett was a sailor in the U.S. Navy and Daniel hadn't seen him in at least a year.

"So I should brace for impact?" I tease. Daniel cocked an eyebrow. "Not that type of impact." I smirk and swat him as he laughed and wrapped an arm around my waist as he lead me to collect our baggage. My big red duffel bag went past and I struggled to lift it off the belt before Daniel one-handedly lifted it clean off. "Whoa!" I exclaimed as I stared at him. "Where did those come from!" I ask as I poke his biceps. "Shut up, you idiot." He says affectionately as he tousled my hair playfully as he grabbed his bag and we made our way out of arrivals and Daniel chuckled and I followed his gaze to a Mesomorphic around six foot one guy whose blonde hair was noticeably growing out from a military buzz cut. He was holding a sign in his big hands that read;

_Paging My Lil' Brother Daniel and his lil' psychiatrist Lucinda Prior._

A grin spread across his face as he lowered the sign as we approach we pulls Daniel in and claps him on the back. "How you doing Danny boy?" Everett smiled. "Same old." Daniel smiled before he pulled back and within a second. My feet were around 3 inches from the ground as I was brought into a bear hug. "So this is her huh? The one who has the long black hair that Daniel practically sent me a page in an email describing." He grinned as he set me down and looked at me. Daniel punched him in that brotherly way when he's been embarrassed. I laugh. "That would be me." I smile. "Daniel's descriptions did you no justice." He winked. I blushed. "Well come on you two, let's get you two home." Everett smiled taking my red duffel and carrying it towards a khaki land rover defender and just before I jumped into the back seat a face caught my eye. That guy from the airport. Sam? no Cam. But there were others around him now. A girl with hot-pink hair, a guy with black and gold dreadlocks and a small girl with an edgy pixie cut.

_You know you they are Lucinda. _

_Remember, Remember the fields of white. _

_Where you and the dark one will certainly fight. _

_Because where one shall stand triumphant with all. _

_The other shall fall and have nothing at all._

Luce's eyes widened at the voice in her head and noticed the look of shock in each of their faces except for two. Cam and the guy with the dreads. Quickly Luce turned and climbed into the back and sat quietly and buckled herself in and pretended to listen to the ramblings of Daniel and Everett but her mind kept repeating those words she could have sworn were said. "_Where one shall stand triumphant with all, The other shall fall and have nothing at all."_

_**Author's Note; I know this seems boring at the moment but I promise very soon the action will be in full swing. Oh and have a Happy New Year!**_


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

**Luce's POV **

After a thirty minute drive, Everett pulled the Land Rover, down a tarmac driveway lined on either-side with tall palm trees with lush green leafs, I looked out the left window and saw the beautifully blue sea, in the wind that the Land Rover created, I could practically smell the salt that the sea carried. Reggae Music -Three Little Birds by Bob Marley to be exact - was playing through the car, enhancing the atmosphere and making me feel less on edge at the prospect of meeting Daniel's parents for the first time.

"So Luce where do you reign from?" Everett chuckled.

I glanced at Daniel who rolled his eyes but smiled.

"Austin, Texas." I answered smiling

"A cowgirl eh?" Everett smirked mischievously causing me to blush bright red.

"Ignore him Luce, The sea-air has made him a bit loopy." Daniel joked.

At that moment the house came into view.

"My god!" I exclaimed as she eyes widened

Before her stood a a structure that Luce could only compare with the Cullen's House from 'Twilight' because of all of it's large windows at the entrance. (literally can't describe it it's so beautiful so if you look up Vangviet **Inspiring** (not inspirational) Ultramodern house it should be there) Everett laughed. "It's really something isn't it?" He smirked as the Land Rover came to a halt.

"We have the place to ourselves, Mum and Dad's plane got severely delayed." Everett said as he hopped out of the car.I unclipped my seatbelt but by the time I had reached the open the door. Daniel had opened it and held out a hand.

"M'Lady." He smirked as he bowed his head.

I laughed and took his hand and clumsy clambered out of the monstrosity of a car, basically falling and Daniel strong arms circled around my waist and steadied me.

"You okay?" he chuckled.

"Just Fine." I blushed.

"Luce, you can head on inside and leave us gentlemen with the baggage." Everett smiled.

I smiled and thanked them both as she moved towards the house.

**Daniel's POV**

I smiled as I watched Luce go, her face looked beautiful as she gaped at her surroundings in awe.

"Well what do you think of her, so far?" I asked Everett as I joined my brother at the back of the car and grabbed Luce's Duffel bag as Everett had already had already grabbed my gold Calvin Klein suitcase

"Like her better than you already, but you can never judge a girl until A. You see her interact with animals and B. You see her eat." Everett smirked as he closed the car boot.

"See her eat?" I laughed as I looked at Everett incredulously

"Yeah, It's where a girl's personality really shows…for example if she sits upright and basically digs her elbows into her ribs, She's a bit stuck up a bit too proper for my taste. If she completely slouches and her elbows are completely laid out almost as if she's melting, the girl could be a slob, lazy et cetera."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Everett the Girl-Whisperer." I mock announced through my hands before I bellowed out in laughter.

Everett smirked and swung the suitcase he was carrying at me before we both ventured to the front door where we found a very puzzled Luce.

"Umm, This is the front of the house right?" She asked as she inspected the wall of windows in front of her. I smiled as I leaned around her and hit a button on the wall and watched as the window slowly swung in when I touched it.

"Cool huh?" I grinned looking at a shocked and awe-struck Luce.

"Beyond Cool." Luce whispered before following Daniel inside.

**Luce's POV**

"Luce his is our humble abode." Everett smiled as he dumped the suitcase on the wooden floor and spread his arms out indicating the large spacious, reeking of wealth ground floor which had two sets of stairs that lead up to another level but there was enough room upstairs that the upstairs landing served as a balcony to most of the ground floor. In the left side of the house was a massive 98inch screen TV adorning one wall with what looked like a surround sound system and the comfiest looking sofas that I had ever laid her eyes on. In the centre between the two staircases, stood a black 'Steinway' Grand Piano, in this large space there were also a couple of bookshelves completely stocked with books. To the right of the entrance was a huge kitchen and dining room.

I had only seen a portion of the house but it already screamed wealth at me in a high-pitched tone.

"I know it's a lot but our mother has expensive taste." Daniel sighed.

"It's beautiful!" I gasped. Literally awe-struck first the window/door thing now all of this!

"Bedrooms are all upstairs, Danny why not show her to her bedroom?" Everett smiled and winked as he moved towards the sitting room area.

"I don't wanna move, if I break anything, I'II be working my whole life just to pay you back." I stated, gaping at the massive interior

Daniel burst out laughing, which was one of the most beautiful things Luce had ever heard as began to contain himself, the laughter had moved to his violet eyes which danced with what looked like happiness and love, but neither of us had yet uttered those three little yet powerful words to one another...yet

"Just stick with me and I promise I'II pay for any breakages that will not occur." He chuckled as he tugged Luce towards the stairs.

"Come on, Let me show you your bedroom." Daniel winked mischievously and waggled his eyebrows at me causing me to blush furiously before I leant up and kissed his cheek.

"Get a room!" Everett hollered at them

"We are." Daniel smirked back at his brother as we both started to climb the stairs


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four **

**LUCE'S POV**

Luce giggled as Daniel covered her eyes.

"If I accidentally walk into a table that has some priceless vase on, It's all your fault." I berated

Daniel chuckled and kissed the side of my head.

"I'm beyond tempted to push you into some of Mom's ridiculous statues now." He smirked before they came to halt. I huffed in response.

"Close your eyes, no peeking." Daniel said as I stood like Daniel left her and opened her right eye slightly.

"I mean it!" Daniel said slightly menacing, but chuckled

"Oh-no! This is your red room of pain isn't it?" I gasped playfully.

"Oh shut up." Daniel chuckled from somewhere in the room.

"Yes master." I answered and smirked

She could practically hear Daniel's eyes rolling from across the room.

"Okay, open!" I heard Daniel say excitedly

I opened and blinked as the room came into view, The walls were not red but a lovely sky blue with beautiful white swirls, which automatically made me think of the ocean the four post bed had a white canopy cascading over the oak wood. The duvet was a sandy gold with lighter coloured ornate designs, the pillows looked like they would be absolute heaven to put your head on. The carpet was a perfect beige. on the wall adjacent to the bed were glass doors that led onto a balcony with an astounding view of the sea.

I felt out of place. A scruffy looking girl in this room of grandeur. My eyes fell on Daniel who watched me with a curious look

"What?" I asked smiling

"Nothing….It's just….you have no idea how beautiful you look when you look completely shocked and….I dunno amazed." He smiled as he walked towards her his hands behind his back which gave me a sense of Deja Vu. Of Daniel in a suit casually strolling underneath the starlit sky towards where I watched from a gazebo, an oil lantern in hand which cast a yellow, homely glow inside the gazebo. I shook the image from my head. I've clearly been watching Taylor Swift's 'Love Story' music video too much but this had been happening to me a lot lately and apparently to Daniel as we constantly joked about first meeting on a beach in Tahiti, on some house on a hill in Savoy, France, when he apparently came looking for work or outside the Globe Theatre.

"Luce." Daniel's voice brought me back to reality, he was in front of me,

"You okay?" He asked concerned

"Y-Yeah, Sorry." I answered

He searched my face before he brought his arms in front of him and presented me with a iPad box and a bouquet of white peonies.

"Happy Birthday." He smiled

"You know my birthday was ages ago." I gasped as, I stared at the box, not wanting to take it but wanting to at the same time.

"Yes but today six months it's your birthday and you're always complaining about Herman, your old non-functioning stone-aged tablet so…Happy Half-Birthday." He said blushing slightly.

"You are literally the nicest guy ever." I chuckled as I accepted his gift, immediately brings the flowers up to my nose and gave them a long sniff and grinned.

"You remembered, White peonies are my favourite." I grinned

Daniel blushed bright red and scratched the back of his head

"Well, you did have your face stuck in them when we first met, so I just thought…plus I had this urge or whatever to buy them when I was thinking of what your face would look like when I gave you your new tablet." He explained.

"You are beyond cute, you know that right?" I smiled as she kissed him

The featherlight kiss lasted bout a minute before Daniel launched into talking about her new iPad.

"I hope you don't mind but I've already opened it, Skype is installed and I've added Nora, Your parents and a couple of your other friends, I also installed this app that allows you to write notes with this special pen, there's also a keyboard in the box too." He smiled.

"I don't know what to say." Luce said, bursting with happiness

"Thanks? Get out of my life weirdo? They're all options." Daniel said.

Luce put the flowers and the iPad box on the bed and wrapped her arms around Daniel.

"Why on earth would I say 'get out of my life weirdo'?" Luce smiled as she looked up at him.

Daniel lowered his face to meet hers.

"Lucinda." He whispered against my lips as if it was a prayer or a curse.

I closed the distance and kissed him hard on the lips, his arms immediately circled my waist and fit perfectly almost as if we were a sculpture that was broken and we had done been glued back together.

After too short a time, They were interrupted by the Skype incoming call ringtone Daniel pulled back and smirked.

"That'll be Nora." He chuckled as I kissed his lips once more before going to the iPad and watched as Daniel clicked the accept call button.

Nora's face then appeared.

"S'up Green." Nora hollered at Daniel causing Daniel to laugh.

"Hey Nora. I'II leave you two young ladies alone while I go make sure my brother isn't destroying downstairs." He smiled.

"Bye." I smiled at him as he left.

"Well?" Nora asked

"He is so out of my league, Nora. You should see this house!" I said

"First off, Please I beg of you, do not turn into one of those whiny, weepy girls and secondly, Lu! He totally adores you! I wish I had a guy that looked at me the way he looks at you. Thirdly, I need dets on this palace of Prince Charming." Nora said

"Well it's-" I broke off as a shadow swept across the wall.

I quickly turned and looked around, my heart sped up a bit. I could hear Daniel and Everett's laughter downstairs and then Nora on Skype

"Lu? Luce?!" Nora yelled

"Sorry, I just thought I saw something." I said.

"Okay…Anyway back to your descriptions of this paradise you have found yourself in."

Luce and Nora talked for an hour before I got another call and accepted it into my and Nora's chat. It was Daniel.

"Luce, My parents are home and would like to meet you." He said I then heard someone say

"You're so lazy, Dan!"

"I'II be right down." I laughed. "Sorry Nora, My Prince beckons." I smiled

Nora rolled her eyes. "Call me tomorrow, same time okay!" Nora basically commanded.

"Yes, Mom." I laughed before they said their goodbyes and I put my iPad on the dresser and made my way back to the stairs. Luckily my room was close otherwise, I most probably would have gotten lost. When I got to the top of the stairs I heard more voices and sighed.

"Here we go, just breathe." I quietly told myself as I began to go down when I thought I saw the same shadow as before but this time when I turned to check.

A dark, slimy blob hovered in the air. I gasped and instinctively jumped back. Bad idea, since I was on the stairs. It all seemed to happen in slow motion. The back of my head connected with the lip of a stair and then the pain as my body spun uncontrollably down the stairs.

"Luce!" I heard Daniel yell and a few minutes later I was in his arms. He was on his knees on the bottom stair.

"Jeez! Are you okay?!" Daniel asked extremely concerned.

I looked up into the concerned eyes of Daniel, Everett, Daniel's Mother and Daniel's Father.

"You sure know how to make an entrance don't you darlin' " Daniel's Father said softly


	6. Chapter 5

Hey Guys, Hope you are enjoying the story, please review and give your thoughts on the plot and my writing it would mean a lot. Thanks!

**Chapter Five**

* * *

**Luce's POV**

An hour later and I was still quite shaken up, from the mysterious black blob that had disappeared as quietly as it had appeared and also from the unnerving presence of Daniel's mother, Charlotte and Daniel's father, Mason as we sat at the long mahogany dining room table waiting for Dinner. A crystal chandler cast the spectrum of the rainbow across the wall opposite me and many replicas -Well, I assumed replicas- of some of Jackson Pollock's work hung proudly on the magnolia walls. I was sat right beside Daniel, his hand on my knee as he talked with his brother who sat directly across from him. Every couple of seconds, he would glance my way as if he was scared that I would collapse after the bang on the head I had gotten after my tumble on the stairs.

"So Luce, tell us about yourself?" Mason smiled after he had finished his conversation with his sons. Charlotte looked at me with a soft, encouraging smile.

"Yes, I'm eager to know the girl who has my son wrapped around her little finger." She smiled, Luce looked at Daniel who immediately looked down in embarrassment.

"Well, I'm from Austin, Texas where my parents met at a concert. I have three older brothers and an older sister. I get on really well with all of them but I guess that's because I hardly ever see any of them." I chuckle

"What do your siblings do?" Charlotte smiled

"Well, Joel's the oldest he's a doctor, he's just finished his residency. he's in Boston." I heard Daniels parents make a noise of approval. "Good on him." Mason said

"Sam and Adam are twins and Sam is in the U.S. Navy, I think he's are in Japan at the moment. Sam owns a book and comic store in Austin so I get to see him a lot and my sister Eloise is a cellist with the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra." I finish

"That Orchestra is phenomenal!" Charlotte exclaimed

"What about you?" Mason asked.

"I've just finished my degree in medicine and want to go into more of the mental health side of things because mental health has always been something that interests me and I love helping people so…." I smiled

"Do you need a masters or?" Mason asked interested.

"No, I need to finish my period of residency and then just specialise in Psychiatry." I smiled before I took a sip of my water

I blush slightly as Daniel squeezed my knee and smiled at me.

"Luce has an amazing work-ethic. She spends most of her free time working two jobs, as a waitress in that restaurant you guys loved when you visited me and as a tutor to little kids in Maths, Science and History." Daniel said proudly as he looked at me. I smiled at him and blushed a deeper red colour.

"Wow! That's really something, I hope my son spoils you for working so hard." Mason said, looking at Daniel.

"He does more than I deserve, In fact he just gave me an iPad because my other tablet is sadly nearing it's time of retirement." I chuckle

"Well, good." Mason smiled.

At that moment, their butlers came in with the dinner and carefully set the plates in front of everyone.

"Thank-you." I smiled at the butler, who smiled back.

I looked at the plate and saw what looked like BBQ chicken, rice with chickpeas and some sweet potatoes. Everything smelt amazing and made my mouth water.

"It's traditional Caribbean cuisine." Daniel whispered to her.

I nodded and then dug in and it really did taste as amazing as it looked but sadly I couldn't finish it as I felt quiet nauseous from the knock on the head.

"Do you have any aspirin or any painkillers?" I asked

"Yes, In the bathroom in the cabinet to the side of the sink." Charlotte answered as she wiped her mouth.

"You okay?" Daniel asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I may just take a walk on the beach, before dessert though if thats okay?" I asked looking at his parents.

"It's your holiday sweetheart, do as you please." Mason smiled at her.

"Thank-you." I said gratefully as she excused myself from the table and went to the bathroom to get the tablets before going into the kitchen to get water. As I swallowed Daniel came in.

"You want me to go on the walk with you?" He asked as he rubbed her arms.

"Nah, I'II be fine. I know you want to catch up with your family." I say as I leaned up to kiss his cheek.

"Okay. Don't be too long." He smiled as he kissed my forehead.

"Ok, See you in a bit." I smile as I slide the back door and then slid it closed after me as I watched Daniel go back to the table. I sigh as I turn and walk across the deck to the stairs that lead down to the beautiful white sand of the beach. The sounds of the gently crashing waves, lulled my pounding headache into silence. I unstrapped my sandels and then stepped onto the still warm sand. On the horizon, the set sun still scorched the sky in brilliant pinks and oranges, I walked down to the shoreline and wiggled my toes as the warm water covered my feet. I breathed in deep and felt the nausea drift away.

I wasn't watching where I was going and soon bumped into someone's back.

"Pfft." I gasped.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't—wait, Cam?" I asked as the figure turned and emerald green eyes burnt into my hazel ones.

"Luce, Fancy meeting you here." He smiled.

"Cam!" I heard a voice call and next minute the small girl with the edgy pixie haircut and the tall leggy hot-pink haired girl I had seen at the airport came jogging towards us.

"Arriane, Annabelle." I felt myself say. Wait what? I froze as did they.

"You remember?" Annabelle gasped.

"Wait what? Remember what?" I asked

"Nothing." Arriane said tersely.

I shook my head.

"Sorry it's just you all look really familiar. Almost as if we'd met before." Luce said drawing out the before as an image hit her.

Arriane and Annabelle floating in the air, what no they had wings!

"Don't listen to , Never leave us!" Arriane had laughed as rebellious tears began to flow down her cheeks.

Then she was back to reality.

"We have met before, haven't we?" She said as she retreated a few steps so she could see them all fully.

"You were right, Cam. Something has happened." A voice said suddenly from behind her. She yelped in surprise and spun. "Roland!" I gasped at the dark figure with the black and gold dreadlocks. He smiled at me.

"I'm sorry I need to go this doesn't make any sense." I said suddenly frightened and wildly confused.

"You didn't imagine the black blob, Luce." Cam called as Luce ran back towards the safety of Daniel's house.

"Open up your mind!" Roland then called.

She shook her head as she ran. How did they know of the black blob? Were they stalking her? And all the way back to the house the same limerick that Luce had heard at the airport ran through her head.

"Remember, Remember the fields of white,

Where you and the dark one will certainly fight.

Because where one shall stand triumphant with all

The other shall fall and have nothing at all."

**Cam's POV**

"Well that was weird." Arriane said as they watched Luce's figure run up the stairs.

"You were right, brother." Roland said as he went up to Cam.

"She still has her immortal soul, it's just suppressed." He said as he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Cam.

"The prophecy was right, not even The Throne can stop it." I answered in agreement with Roland

"What might this prophecy be? We've never heard of it." Arriane interjected.

"That the 'War of the Balance' is bound to take place."

"But that means!" Arriane gasped

"Yes Arriane, they still have their Angelic souls."

"We need to be careful, what if the cycle has restarted, if Luce finds out too much too fast she could combust." Annabelle stated.

"No, Her soul is not cursed now, if she remembers, her angelic soul will dominate her human soul and she will become an angel once again." Roland said turning to the girls

Arriane squealed. "You hear that Annabelle, We're getting our Lucylu back!"

" If she returns there will be consequences." Roland whispered to me

"Lucifer is still blinded by jealously, if he finds out-" Roland trailed off

"He'll kill Daniel before he returns to his true form, but make it look like an accident so he'll have Luce. Yes I know Roland." I sighed

"We can't let that happen." Roland swallowed

"We won't, no matter what Daniel is our family as is Lucinda. I'd die before anything would happen to them this time around!" I stated with a final tone as I stared at the house.

"So it begins again." Roland sighed as he looked back at the house, where Luce had finally reached the door and had disappeared inside.


	7. Chapter 6

I know this chapter was a bit rushed but it time for it to

happen.

**Chapter Six**

* * *

**Luce's POV**

Despite having taken a couple of aspirin, my headache seemed to crescendo on encountering Cam and the others. How did I know there names? I was more than confident that I had not encountered them in my life. Well this life anyway. Sure I had heard of the hinduist belief of another life, I had joked about being various famous figures with my parents. It was scary how I seemed to know those people; Arriane, Annabelle, Roland and Cam.

"Luce is that you?" I heard Daniel call. Each sound was like a hammer smashing into my brain into oblivion. I rubbed my temples softly.

"Yeah." I answered back, as I pushed off the wall I was leaning against and reentered the dining room.

"You okay?" Everett asked as he saw her.

"Yeah—Just a migraine I guess." I said weakly

I heard two chairs slide across the carpeted floor and went thing both Charlotte and Daniel were by my side.

Daniel rubbed my shoulders as he looked at me concerned.

"Daniel, why don't you go sit down I'II help her." Charlotte's soft jazzy-thick-as-honey voice spoke.

Daniel looked at me, concerned as if asking for permission. I nodded at him, before Charlotte led me towards the stairs and up them, her arms circling me as I we walked, steadying me.

"I suffer from migraines myself, they're a piece of work aren't they?" She joked.

"They definitely are." I breathe out, as one of my hands gripped her arm and the other clutched at her head.

She lead me to down the hallway upstairs, past my bedroom and to the door at the end of the hall, she opened it, revealing a large bedroom, she lead me to the queen sized bed and pushed me backwards until I sat.

"I always find that inhaling Lavender Oil does the trick and if not, then I inhale Peppermint oil also." She smiled and even to look at the smile seemed to dim the pain for a little while at least. She grabbed the large wash basin in the corner and moved to the bathroom, Luce then heard running water and Charlotte humming some calm and soft melody.

Luce looked around the room, it was just as grand as the rest of the house. A chandelier hung from the ceiling. The walls were a soothing magnolia, The wall behind Luce, where the huge bed jutted out of, seemed to be a black silhouette of branches, with cherry blossoms painted on the branches. The Furniture was made of Cedar wood. The carpet was a dark beige and was so soft on Luce's bare feet.

"There we are!" She heard Charlotte proclaim as she came back into the room smiling, she flicked her long blonde hair from her face as she carefully put the steaming bowl on my lap, before she turned to her vanity table to pick up a violet coloured bottle. She twisted the cap off and carefully put a few drops of the clear scented liquid into the hot water before she carefully stirred it with a spoon she had also picked up from the table.

"Now, just as if you had a cold I want you to put your head over the bowl and breathe in the vapours." Charlotte instructed. Luce nodded and did just that.

The floral scent filled my nose and I smiled.

"A flower lover I see." Charlotte smiled

I smiled and nodded as she went about organising her vanity.

With each breathe my head cleared, that was before the torrent of images.

A woman at the head of a classroom with long blonde hair, quite similar to Charlotte.

A man in an office handing over Plato's 'The Republic' who shared an uncanny resemblance to Mason.

Many more images flew through my head.

"Sometimes beautiful things come into our lives out of nowhere…" I heard a voice trail off.

I shook my head and gasped closed her eyes then opened them and Charlotte was right there. Her eyes wide.

"Have we met before?" I ask.

Charlotte gently took the bowl off of my lap and placed it aside.

"Don't fight it, the more you fight it the more it'll hurt." I heard a voice say. I turned towards the door that led out to the balcony and there stood Cam. He walked into the room, followed by the others who spanned out on their side of Cam. Annabelle and Arriane looked at me encouragingly. Roland looked at me, his hands jammed in his pockets.

"You were right…Sorry I doubted you." Charlotte said to Cam her gaze not leaving my face.

"What the hell is going on?!" I asked surprised.

"You know exactly what's happening, listen to your instincts, trust your gut. Delve into yourself. It's time for you to come back Lucinda." Cam said watching me.

After what Cam said. I felt something clawing at her insides, begging to be released. It scared me.

"I can't." I whispered scared

"This is all happening too fast." I sob in pain as more images flooded my brain, All of these people in different eras of time. Mayan times, Ancient Egypt, Renaissance, Age of Exploration, Age of Enlightenment and all the others.

"Dream what you already know, Lucinda." A voice said in my head. Gabbe. I was overwhelmed by grief.

"I can't! I can't, I can't! I'm sorry I just can't!" I cried as I slid off the bed and put my head in my hands.

She felt two people on her flanks and she was suddenly enveloped in arms.

"You are the strongest person, we know Lucinda. If anyone can do this, it's you. You know you can do it, Let it in! You're so close!" I heard Annabelle's encouraging tone.

I looked at the girl and cringed as images and voices blazed through my head, white-hot pain. I felt myself spasm and nearly cried out as I felt a burning in my shoulder blades. my hands clawed futilely and helplessly at my back, there was no wound! Then why was I in this much pain. Annabelle and Arriane backed away as did Charlotte as I fell forward. Weeping and sobbing at the climax of the pain. I looked up and saw everyone's pained expressions and I could see a burning orb of light inside each and every one of them. I spasmed on the floor and then there was a sound of ripping followed by the sound of sails being released. The pain ended and I no longer felt like myself. I was weighed down. On either side of me lay radiant white feathered structures. I reached out and touched it and felt an abundance of power within them. I looked at them gazed as they beat softly.

"Well?" A voice said.

I looked up at the Angels; Charlotte who I knew as Francesca, Arriane, Annabelle and then to the demons; Roland and Cam.

"I am Archangel Lucinda, creator of heavenly light." I gasp

Arriane and Francesca help me to my feet.

"I'm back." I sobbed as I hugged Arriane my tears dripping into onto her scarred neck

"Hell yeah, you are and better than eva!" Arriane grinned as she hugged me back as her own tears fell into my hair

* * *

Author's Note: I know this chapter was a bit rushed but it time for it to happen.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

* * *

**Luce's POV**

My body trembled from the shock of what had just occurred. Annabelle and Arriane kept their arms around me, their hands stroking my arms soothingly. Francesca had scurried off to get a new shirt for me, which she would tailor to allow for my wings and to prevent shredding my shirt into some mess like I just had.

"What now?" I asked through chattering teeth.

"For now, you rest and recuperate. You've been through well…..a trauma for want of a better word." Roland interjected.

"Enjoy your holiday with Daniel." Arriane smiled half-heartedly

"Daniel! What do I tell him about-" I trailed off as I looked at my wings.

"Nothing, Just like you he needs to figure this out for himself." Annabelle said sternly

"This is so weird, normally it's you we keep in the dark." Arriane laughed.

I laughed along with her. Before the grief tore through me, as though a freight train going full speed had slammed me in the chest. I gasped and clutched helplessly at my chest.

"Gabbe. Molly. Penn. Dee. Doreen. Harry. Shelby. Miles. Callie." I gasped out each name of those I had—have lost

"God, no! I swore I wouldn't put Doreen and Harry through what all my other parents went through when they lost me." I choke. Arriane and Annabelle bowed their heads.

"I need to see them!" I sob.

"No Luce, no you don't. If you show up on their doorstep it could give 'em a heart attack. Their pain will have dulled by now, Lu. It's been over twenty years. They would've learned to have let you go by now." Annabelle said soothingly

"They're my parents!" I snap instantly regretting it

"No they're not. This you has different parents, In this life you have three brothers. As hard as it was for Doreen and Harry they've made peace with your passing. Leave them be Luce, They're finally letting you go." Cam says softly.

I nod in response. "Shelby and Miles?" I ask looking to Roland, him and Miles had seemed to be developing a friendship. "They're married, to each other. They have three kids. Two boys and a baby girl they've named after you. I drop in every now and then." Roland smiled.

My eyes burn at them naming their only girl after me.

"Will I be able to see them again?" I ask

"If you want to and if they want to." Arriane smiled and nodded

"Listen, you're about to have a whole lot more than you ever asked for handed to you. The majority bad things. You need to let go of this grief. Looking back on what's in the past, stops the future and we kind of need you in the near future." Annabelle said

I nod in agreement before everyone freezes

"I'm just checking on her, Mom." I hear Daniel's voice say as the door handle turns.

I dash into the bathroom, followed by Arriane and Annabelle. Cam and Roland go out to the balcony.

"Put your wings in!" Annabelle orders as she and Arriane dodge them.

"Luce! You in here?" I hear Daniel call.

"In the bathroom." I yell out in response, trying to figure out how to put my wings away. All I could do was make them fold in to make them smaller.

"You okay?" He asks his voice getting closer.

"Yeah, just dizzy, thought I'd splash water on my face!" I lie smoothly as Arriane turns the tap on.

"Need any help?"

"NO! I mean no, I'm fine." I say panicking slightly

"You sure you're okay?" He asked obviously concerned and suspicious.

"Yeah." I say relieved when my wings finally go back beneath my skin. I felt like I was going to laugh at how silly the whole situation was.

"I'II be down in a little bit, Just need to cool down a bit." I call out.

"Okay, I told Jeff, you'd like Warm Chocolate Fudge cake with Vanilla ice-cream that okay?" He asked

"Dessert right! Yeah thats perfect thanks!" I call.

I waited a couple of seconds before Francesca opened the door holding out a new shirt.

"Sorry, I took so long. Thought i'd alter the lot, since I got the sewing machine out." She smiled as I tugged the shirt on.

"Thanks." I smiled gratefully, as I threw the remains of my old shirt into the bathroom bin.

"We'd better go down, You guys can fill Luce in on whats going on later." Francesca said with a tone of finality as she quickly guided me out.

"Bye!" I mouthed to my friends and waved before I followed her down and back to the dining room.

Mason, No! Steven smiled knowingly at me and winked.

"Isn't that a different shirt?" Daniel frowned

"Yeah, Thought I'd change it, since it was beginning to feel like a skin after all the exams, travelling et cetera." I smiled as I sunk back into my seat and gripped Daniel's hand in mine and smiled at him.

"Perfect timing!" Francesca purred as the servants came in with the desserts.

The scent and look of the chocolate fudge cake made my mouth water.

I frowned at the yellowy white liquid oozing out of the middle of the cake,

"Melted White Chocolate chips." Daniel explained as he saw the confusion on my face.

"Oh! I'm seriously going to be several dress sizes bigger by the time we leave." I tease.

"I'II make sure you get some exercise." Daniel winked

"Easy Dan, before you make my dinner make a reappearance." Everett complained

I laughed

"I meant swimming." Daniel answered innocently

"Sure, you did." I smirk as I but a bit of the delicious cake in my mouth scrapping the thick melted chocolate sauce off the spoon with my teeth.

Dinner finished shortly after dessert and I went upstairs to take a shower. Who knew that travelling could make you really sweaty, well everyone but me I guess. I had Miracle by Cascada blaring through an iPod speaker I had brought with me. I had a towel wrapped firmly around my body, my hair on the top of my head in a messy bun as I brushed my teeth. I had my PJs laid out on the bed for when I got out of the shower. The top was a black tank top with 'C'est La Vie' written in white cursive and the bottoms were loose fitting black and white horizontal striped long legged pants. When I looked in the mirror, I could see that the skin on my shoulders was a bit red but fading back to the original tone by the second. I moved closer and could just see the beginning of scar tissue. Where my wings would come out of.

I quickly showered and did all the other necessities before I got into my PJs and just before I turned off the bed side lamp. I heard a knock on the door to the balcony. I froze before I remembered that it was probably one of the angels or demons. I got out of bed and went to the door and moved the curtain aside and unsurprisingly Cam stood there.

"Cute PJs." He smiled as I opened the door, rolling my eyes as he stepped in and went to my bedside table and frowned at the book I had put on it. 'Red Queen' by Victoria Aveyard

"Power is a dangerous game." He recited "No kidding." He smirked

"What do you want?" I asked tiredly.

"You wanna know about what's happening don't you?" He asked

"Should I want to, or should I steer clear?" I ask

"You're already knee deep in it darling, no escape now." He laughed before sighing

"Keep it down!" I hissed

"You're worried bout Grigori hearing?" He asked, his emerald green eyes dancing.

"Green." I corrected

"Grigori's better." He retaliated

I sat in the middled of the bed my legs crossed in the Lotus Pose.

"Okay down to business." He said.

"I'm going to tell you the truth, you're not going to like it." He sighed

"I'm ready." I said untouched by this warning

"I know you are." He said and smiled affectionately

"Basically, another end-game has been played and not one we'd like. Luce, we think Lucifer is going to try and bring back that war, you know the one we avoided last time. Now that you're back, you're going to have like a Commander status in this war. People will follow you. You've proved that no-hardship can throw you, you'll always return. That also means that people will move against you. Some of your brothers and sisters from the meadow. Don't ask me how but news has already broke that you've returned to your true form and that your star-crossed lover Daniel hasn't."

"We're not star-crossed." I say trying to delay what I know Cam is about to say. A sympathetic expression crosses his face. He knows what I'm doing.

"Maybe you're not anymore. Luce, to get to you. To make you maybe change your alliances, Daniel will be their main target. They know the devotion you two possess. You're like swans." Cam says watching my expression

I stare at him blankly

"That won't happen, I—We can protect him!" I say looking at Cam

"We will, but Luce remember when you were at Shoreline and that outcast, Phillip escaped our detection. It's possible that could happen here, I mean we can't confine him to one space like we tried to do to you." He said

"I'II be with him, twenty-four, seven." I argue.

Cam looks at me for a moment.

"I forgot how argumentative you were. Roland and I are going to meet with some of those you might want to side with you." Cam began

"I don't want to be considered as great as the Throne. If others follow me, the Throne may retaliate!" I complain

"Like I said Luce, Commander status, not Creator status. The throne is a bit busy to look down on our problems. She has her own." Cam sighed

"This is insane!" I sigh

"I know, but unfortunately, Life sometimes is. I better go, Roland's waiting." Cam sighed as he got up.

"Be safe!" I say as I follow him to the balcony door.

"Always am." He smirks and winks at me.

I let out a small laugh and shake my head. Typical Cam.

I sigh as I look at my bed and then head for the door and silently tip-toe to Daniel's door and knock softly before entering.

"Lu, That you?" I hear him question groggily.

"Yeah, hey. Sorry I woke you." I whisper as I move closer to his bed.

"I'm not sorry." I hear him say before I hear the covers ruffle. His arm circles my waist and gently pulls me down onto his soft mattress.

"Couldn't sleep?" He asks as his arms circle me and draw me closer to him until his chin sits on my head

"No." I agree as I grip gently run my hand up and down his chest.

"Had a bad dream." I say

"Oh?" He says

"Tell me about it." He says

"It's stupid but I lost you." I say, tears burn my eyes as Cam's words sink in.

Daniel and I have more enemies than ever and Daniel—My poor vulnerable human Daniel is their number one target.

"You'll never lose me." He says reassuringly

"But what if some maniac gun-man comes along and pulverises you with bullets?" I sob

"Hey!" I hear Daniel say as his arms move so he can stroke my cheek

"What brought this thought up?" He asked

"Nothing it was just a really vivid dream, I mean really vivid!" I lie smoothly as a tear rolls down my cheek.

"Well, if I do get killed by some insane gun-man, I'II be that ghost-thing that moves your stuff from where you thought you put it to some completely different place." He chuckles. I can't help but laugh

"You always know how to cheer me up, don't you?" I say sarcastically.

"I know." He chuckles as his arms circle me again

"Enough of this death talk. Let's just sleep, okay. Don't worry about nightmares, If any come to try and visit you as you dream, I'II fight them off." He yawns before he kisses my head.

"Okay, Good-night." I whisper as I close my eyes.

"Sweet Dreams." I hear Daniel reply.

And so we fell asleep, in his moonlit room. His hold on me never faltered through the night. I watched him sleep and smiled at myself. i would never ever let anyone take him away from me

* * *

Little did Luce or any of the angels and demons know but a creature was watching them the whole time. Staring at the dark window of Daniel's room, the creature turned to his accomplice.

"Report back to the Dark One, tell him that the girl and the friends have fallen for the trap and that we can now commence with Phase One."

The accomplice nods and scurries off into the night, to report back to the Dark One while the creature stayed at his assigned post.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

* * *

**Luce's POV**

I awoke to the sound or covers rustling and the mattress moving slightly as weight was removed. I opened an eye and saw Daniel tip-toeing as quietly as he could to the door that led onto his balcony. I smiled softly and waited until he was outside before swinging my legs out from underneath the sheet. I stretched to remove the grogginess from my muscles, closing my eyes as my toes pointed and my arms stretched as high as they could. I jumped when I opened my eyes as a black, slimey-looking shadow slithered along the hard-wood floor. An Announcer. I took a bit of pride in finally remembering what it was, as it had nearly killed me when it took me by surprise and caused me to tumble down the stairs.

I shook my head and smirked. That couldn't have been yesterday, could it? Yesterday was probably the longest day in existence! I stood and trudged towards the balcony doors. Daniel had his arms crossed on the railing, as he gazed out at the water shimmering under the rising sun. His bed-head, blonde hair, seemed almost to catch fire it the sun, the blonde in his hair brightening in the sun almost like a halo. I suppressed a giggle. If only he knew.

I slowly opened the door and gently closed it after me. I walked up behind him and wrapped my arms around his centre. Rising on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

"Good Morning."

"Good Morning Beautiful." He smiled as he moved and tugged me so instead of being behind him. I was in front of him, his muscled arms circling my waist, as his chin rested on my head.

"It's so beautiful here!" I smile as I look out at the gleaming, clear, extremely blue water and the gorgeous white sandy beaches.

"Yeah." He said as he kissed my hair.

"You ready for breakfast?" He asked, just as his stomach growled.

"Well you certainly are." I teased as I turned in his arms until I had to tilt my head back slightly to look at him.

"Mom, normally goes all out for breakfast. Eggs, Bacon, Croissants, French toast. You name it and she'll be making it." He beamed affectionately.

"I bet she's the best chef." I smile as he takes my hand and back into the bedroom and to the door.

"Wow, my first Walk Of Shame. Since you know…I'm leaving in the same clothes I entered in." I stated jokingly.

His eyes widened as he played along.

I laughed as we both exited. Immediately I was greeted with the amazing scent of waffles, Croissants, My stomach growled ferociously at the sound of something—most probably bacon sizzling.

"I'm so going to be fat before I leave here." I say as we make our way to the stairs.

"Good Mornin'" I hear a voice say before I'm lifted off the ground and into someone's arms. I yelp in surprise and Everett smirks.

"Just making sure you don't have another unfortunate encounter with the stairs." He muses

"Ha, Ha, Ha." I say sarcastically.

"Hey! My girl, Everett." I hear Daniel protest before he's carrying me bridal style.

"You snooze you lose." I say to Everett as Daniel begins to walk down the stairs.

Everett smirks as he walks down behind his brother.

"We'll see." He smiles as he winks at me. All I can do is roll my eyes.

I follow the boys into the kitchen where there are plates at the ready and a long line of food on plates. Daniel and Everett automatically turn into animals and push each other out of the others way as they race to get their plates.

"If you dont act quick, there will be nothing left." I hear a voice say from behind me and turn and see Dad's "father" Mason, who I knew as Steven.

"Hey, Steven." I say lowly.

"Hello, Luce." He beams at me.

I smile back as he expertly looks to his sons and claps his hands.

"Boys, any of you two heard of something called, Ladies first?" He asks.

Both of them automatically look guilty. "Sorry." They both grumble

"It's okay seriously, I'm used to it. Three big brothers and all." I smile but take the plate Daniel offer me never the less.

Breakfast was uneventful and after, I went up to get changed. I twisted my hair into a waterfall braid and then got into my purple and white bikini, My sweatpants style shorts, my white tank top and black kimono. I grabbed my towel as Daniel knocked. I went out to him and we both went to the beach behind his house. Francesca had already moved some deck chairs onto the beach. Francesca herself was stretched out on her stomach on the deck-chair a book flattened beneath her hands. Daniel and I dumped our towels on our deck chairs and I stripped down to my bikini and smiled at the heat, which began to remind me of Texas.

My parents would love it here, they were always on about coming here some day. Maybe during their retirement

Suddenly I was brought out of my daze when I was lifted into the air and over Daniel's shoulder.

"Be careful, There are a couple of sharks about." Francesca called after us.

"There's always Sharks about!" Daniel called back laughing as I playfully slapped his back while yelling at him to put me down.

"You are no gentleman are you?" I asked laughing

"Nah, Being a gentleman is over-rated!" His voice raised at over-rated as he tossed me into the water. I cringed awaiting impact before the water opening up and swallowed me whole. I yelled in surprise as my head rebroke the surface and there Daniel was, threading water with a wolfish grin.

I splashed him

"Thanks for that!" I said sarcastically

"Anything darlin'" He smiled and winked.

"Race you to the buoy?" He asked as he pointed.

"Your on, prepare to eat my wake!" I said cockily.

He looked at me with a look that said yeah right

We both counted to three before I took off into a freestyle stroke before switching to my butterfly as the water settled. I didn't look back to see how far away he was.

Not too lone after I slammed my hand against the buoy

"HA!" I exclaimed victoriously as I turned to look at him.

My stomach knotted. "Daniel?" I called out. No answer. I looked at the calm water that became to ripple as the waves caused by my swimming panned out. Maybe he dived. I waited but he didn't surface. I brought my googles down from my head and dipped my head under. Nothing. No! No, no, no, no, God no! This wasn't happening! I resurfaced and climbed onto the boy and looked around. Nothing

"BOO!"

My grip on the buoy faltered and I went under.

I resurfaced and found a laughing Daniel. I kick my legs at him, splashing him

"That so wasn't funny!" I squeal.

"You gave me a heart attack!" I gasp

"You nearly caught me when you climbed on that buoy." He chuckled as he drew me closer to him. I pushed him away.

"I'm still mad at you!" I protest.

"Awhh Lu, Don't b—" He was broken off as he went under. The water bubbled almost as if it was boiling

"Daniel!" I gasp as I drew in a breath and went under. But I couldn't see anything, millions of bubbles engulfed my body. I swam through the bubbles only to find more. My blood ran cold. I wouldn't be able to find him in time in this! My only hope of finding him in low visibility under water was to follow his bubbles but there was no hope of that here! I let out a frustrated yell that released more bubbles from my mouth. Thank god for an angel's infinite air supply. I thrashed in the water and followed big bubbles but they lead no-where. i was running out of time. Daniel didn't the chance to take a deep breath before whatever it was pulled him down.

I needed help. I frantically kicked for the surface.

"LUCE!" I heard Cam call as he came swimming towards me.

"What happened?!" He asked

"I don't know, he was joking around and then he was pulled under by—I dunno, I couldn't see it and now there's bubbles everywhere, you can't see through him, they distort everything." I cried out.

"Calm down, breathe, We'll get him!" Roland said as he joined us.

Together we dove down, into the bubbly water


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

* * *

**Daniel's POV**

It all happened so fast, one minute I was laughing and the next something had gripped my ankle. My blood had ran cold as I was dragged under, faster than I thought possible. Shark. That was my one thought. Bubbles were filling my vision, so when I tried to look at what had my ankle I couldn't see it. My body instinctively began to thrash before I stopped myself. I only had maybe a minute left of oxygen….if I was lucky. I arched my back and reached down towards my ankle to give the predator a wallop.

"So weak, Can't even save yourself can you? How on earth do you expect to save her from what I have planned?" A smirking voice spoke into my head.

I shook my head and continued my frantic search for what had a hold of me as air- bubbles escaped my mouth. My lungs were beginning to burn, my vision dotting in red. My brain going fuzzy. I fought as hard as I could but still knew it wasn't enough. my movements were too clumsy. My body began to become numb. My eyelids involuntarily shut. My only hope was that Lucinda had the sense to get out before the shark could get her too. Lucinda. Probably my last ever thought.

* * *

**Luce's POV**

I kicked harder then I ever remember kicking. Harder even then I had when I had gotten caught in a riptide when I was seven. I couldn't swim probably at that age and the lifeguards were even baffled that I had walked away from that experience. A miracle they had said. For the first time in my life I prayed the same for Daniel. A miracle. I knew, I just knew that we were too late. He was gone. My heart clenched at the thought. I wasn't going to give up hope though. Not until I found his body at least. If there's one thing that Daniel had taught me through our agonising seven thousand year curse. Was that hope never dies. I looked to the side and could barely make out Cam, who looked so frustrated as he practically punched the water. I looked to my other side to see Roland right beside me. He looked at me worriedly. I shook my head I pushed on.

Don't you dare do this to me, Daniel. Don't you dare. We've been through too much for it to end like this. My anger propelled me further through the water. It's all the Thrones fault. We were meant to live a human life! Not worry about any of this angelic warfare stuff.

I drew back in shock as my hands brushed something that felt like hair. My heart skipped a beat as I gave one final kick and suddenly Daniel's face came into view. His mouth was parted open and his eyes were closed and there on his ankle was a black hand. I growled sending bubbles out. The creature withdrew but I was too quick i snatched it's arm, which was blisteringly hot. I pulled and the creature was up by me, before it's arm fell off, quite like a lizard and it disappeared into the bubbles which suddenly halted. The creature was no-where to be seen. I put my arms around Daniel and unfurled my wings, we were really deep and from Daniel's condition it may already be too late. I beat my wings once and we soared up through the water, stopping just as we broke the surface. I pulled my wings back into my body as I kicked for the shore. Cam and Roland surfaced and helped keep both of us afloat, more importantly keep Daniel's head out of the water. I looked to the beach and saw Steven and Francesca rushing to the water's edge with Everett charging behind them. I basically crawled onto the beach, dragging Daniel, I felt so weak. Arms looped through mine and dragged me from the water's edge. Cam and Roland lay Daniel flat. His lips were turning blue. I wasted no time. I closed the place between us and immediately started pumping his chest as hard as I could to try and expel the water from his lungs.

"I'II go get the lifeguard!" Everett said and he took off.

"What happened?!" Steven asked as he knelt beside us.

"Some creature, I dunno. Had grabbed him. Probably like the one that got Dawn." I say.

"Come on, please please!" I sob as water started flowing from Daniel's mouth.

After several minutes of nothing the lifeguards arrived and pushed me aside so they could attend to Daniel

Arriane and Annabelle had come too, they had reached the Lifeguards before Everett and had come with them meeting Everett half way.

Arriane wrapped her arm around me.

"He'll be fine, Lu. It's Daniel after all." She assured me but I heard the doubt in her voice.

"Everyone back now!" A lifeguard demanded as they could the defibulater out.

I crossed my arms and leant into Arriane for support.

"If he dies Arriane—" I start

"Shh, He won't." She said as she soothingly rubbed my arms.

"Stay back." The Lifeguards demand as they backed away.

Daniel's back arched dramatically with the shock.

No response. No Pulse

I swallowed as I watched on in horror.

The robotic monotone of the defibulator sounded and the lifeguards positioned the pads for another go.

Again Daniel's back arched dramatically but this time when the lifeguard felt for a pulse there was an extremely weak one.

"Anyone called 911?" The lifeguard asked.

"Yeah, they're on their way." A bystander spoke.

The lifeguards continued to do CPR until the Paramedics arrived, they put him on a stretcher and went as quickly as they could to the ambulance.

After a bit of arguing the Paramedics let me hop in and sit by him.

"We'll meet you at the Hospital." Steven said and I nodded before the Driver closed the doors and rushed around and hopped in. I carefully took Daniel's hand in mine and left his hand tighten around mine. I let out a strangled breath.

"What happened?" The paramedic in with me asked.

"He got caught in a current then his ankle got wrapped in some seaweed or something. He panicked and i tried to untangle him but it was so thick….I thought I'd lost him." I said.

The paramedic looked at me sympathetically.

"Well, he's in good hands now, nothing will happen to him."

If only that were true.

After a long journey. I climbed out of the ambulance. A headache forming from the shrieking siren. Steven was there and helped me out before we followed Daniel inside. He was admitted to a room and the doctors wanted to keep him until nightfall to make sure he was okay.

He hadn't woken yet. The doctors said it was the shock and that he should wake up really soon. I nodded before I left the room and went straight for the exit.

"What are you doing?" Cam asked

"I'm going after that thing." I growled.

"Luce, I know you're upset but going in blind and impulsive is not the way to go."

"I don't give a damn, that thing almost killed him!" I hissed

"I had you warned what was at stake here!" Cam snapped back

"You wanna go get yourself killed? Go ahead! That will do wonders for Daniel won't it!" He added

"Why isn't he remembering, Cam?" I ask

"I mean, he was an angel longer than I was, so why me? Why did I remember but not him?" I sighed

"We don't know? We thing that maybe it's because at the moment you are one of the most powerful angels out there! You have the possibility to be the Thrones what I like to call Lap-dog aka Gabbe's job." He sighed.

"Arriane, Annabelle and Roland went after the creature, Luce. Right now, Daniel needs you more than ever." Cam says

"Stand by him, keep him safe….Just like he did for you." He sighs

My anger dissolves.

"You're right." I sigh

"I just—I nearly lost him, Cam. My heart was—still is in my throat. I don't know how I can go on living like this, looking for danger at every turn."

"That's just our lot in life, Lu. Unfortunately.

Suddenly Arriane came barrelling in.

"We found it. Well it and it's lair and it has something pretty interesting to say to you."


	11. Chapter 10

_Hey Guys, I'm so sorry about the wait it's been a crazy couple of months. I've moved up to college and have been settling in. I apologise as this isn't my best writing and is a bit too melodramatic but I wanted to post something for you guys. I hope you enjoy it and I may edit it and if I do I will let you know. :) Thanks for reading_

**Chapter Ten**

On the outskirts of the town, Arriane lead Cam and I down rotting wooden stairs to the basement of a long abandoned hotel. I turned as Cam's hand caught my arm. "Luce, I want you to promise not to let this thing get under your skin and to try to 2keep your wits about you." He said, his emerald green eyes burning into mine "I won't." I said as I wriggled from Cam's grasp and continued down the steps until Roland, Annabelle and the creature that had dragged Daniel down came into view. "Well. Look what the tide brought in." It sneered before Arriane smacked it. "Arriane!" Roland scolded. "What?! It deserved it!" Arriane growled before moving back to Annabelle. I moved closer and circled it, assessing it. Black gooey discharge was oozing out of the shoulder -sliding in serpentine paths down it's black scaly side until the black goo dripped from it's flared hips to the flagstone floor- from which the creature had shed it's arm in it's panic when I had grabbed it and Daniel.

"What do you want with him?" I snarled as I stopped in front of him. "Just him dead." The creature shrugged as if a life was worth nothing. I clenched my fists and punched it hard on it's cheek. I felt Cam shift at my side, ready to hold me back if I lunged again. "The dark one has plans for you, Lucinda. Daniel is getting in the way of these plans and who-ever stands in the dark ones way always pays the ultimate price. I suggest you keep that in mind before any of you try anything heroic." It sneered. "Who is this 'Dark One'" Cam spat. The creature stared at Cam gloatingly while it's mouth stretched into a grin that was grinch-like as it began to hum. I froze.

"Leave us!" I said to the others. Arriane and Annabelle stared at me in shock. "You can't be serious?!" Cam scoffed as he turned towards me, looking at me as if I had suddenly gone insane. I wasn't paying attention, all I could think of was. Remember, Remember, The fields of white. Where you and the Dark One will certainly fight. Where One shall stand truimphant with all. The other shall fall and have nothing at all.

"Go, It won't talk with you guys around. Like it said, it's me that the Dark One wants." I said to Cam as I glanced at him. He brought his hands up and pulled at his hair. "You have five minutes with it!" He said "You can't be serious! We're leaving her with it!" Annabelle scoffed. "Luce is right. This is the only way we'll get answers." Roland sighed as he looked at me with a half smile which I took to be encouraging. I returned it as the others reluctantly moved towards the stairs.

"Five Minutes. Call if you need us." Cam reminded me before he followed the others upstairs

"Where did you hear that tune from?!" I hissed as I crossed my arms over my chest as I advanced closer. "Why everyone's heard it! It's a prophecy, you idiot." The creature smirked. "Prochecy, what prochecy?" I questioned. "Of the one with the potential of the purest of good and the potential of the darkest of evils. You." It sneered. "Me? Seriously?" I scoffed. "You are the one who heard the Dark Ones call and their warning, hence why you know the tune." The Creature gloated. I froze. "Basically, if you choose light, it will be the end of days. War will ravage the earth killing all that dwell upon it including you hence Where one shall stand truimphant blah blah blah. But if you choose the darkness. You and the Dark One shall rule the earth and all the other dimensions." It grinned

"Lucifer? The dark one is Lucifer?!" I hissed

"How dare you, you foolish child. Compare the grandeur of the Dark one to that love-sick fool!" The Creature snarled as it ripped free of it's bindings and threw me back against the cold stone wall and held me there.

"The Dark One is the one, who inspired Lucifer to revolt. Who smuts the light out of the purest of hearts. Who places the deadliest of sins upon the souls of mortals. Who has conquered more dimensions than you have had lives upon this wretched planet! Who will burn, beat and break you until they bend your very morals until you are on your knees begging for clemency, that you will serve them alone. You and your little friends have no idea what you are dealing with!" It hissed in my ear before releasing me and backing away,

"That warning will not last long. Until you turn to the darkness and take your place by the darkness' side. Your lover will never be safe. For the darkness' doesn't take kindly to it's belongings being taken from it! You belonged to the darkness once Lucinda and you shall again!" It smirked as it snapped it's fingers and disappeared in a poof of suffocating black smoke.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

The black smoke of which the creature had disappeared into, seeped up through the floorboards in the ceiling, some found it's into my lungs and I backed up fully against the cold surface of the basement wall as I bent over sputtering, trying to expel the acid-like air from my lungs. "Luce!" Voices called before a cacophony of heavy, footsteps pounded down the stairs. Arriane and Annabelle rushed to my side and each girl grabbed one of my shoulders while Annabelle gently patted my back. "What happened?!" Cam asked as he took in the scene, the ropes burned on the floor and the ground in front of me scorched from when the creature had lost it's temper. "That thing, it wwasn't captured at all. We had it exactly where it wanted to be!" I choked out in between coughs. "What?" Roland asked confused as he looked at me. "It wanted to see me, the Dark One had a message for me." I stated as I cleared my throat and relaxed as the last of the acid air left my lungs. "Well, go on!We're all ears." Cam said as he moved back to us. I sighed and then told them of the rhyme that had been playing through my head ever since Daniel and I had left the University and then I went on to everything the Creature had said.

"My god! What are we going to do?" Annabelle asked

"The only thing to do, find out who this sorry ass person is and make them regret the day they ever sought to hurt Luce and Daniel!" Arriane said in her usual taking-no-nonsense way

"Don't be so rash Ari! They probably have spies everywhere watching and if we even attempt anything like that. Daniel may pay the price." Roland interjected.

"He already is." I whispered as I sank to the ground and pulled my knees up to my chest.

"What do you mean?" Cam asked as he stooped down infront of me.

"Don't you get it! The only reason why Daniel hasn't returned to his angelic form is because he really is mortal. The Dark One, wanted me so it must have been present when 'The Throne' handed Daniel and I our sentence and it must have altered it, so that I retained part of my Angelic soul and he didn't. So they could use him against me." I whispered, my voice breaking.

"That's an awfully big assumption, Luce." Roland frowned as he sat on the floor beside Cam.

"Yeah, Daniel just needs time." Annabelle said reasurringly as she scooted down the wall until she was sat to my left.

"You guys know it's true. I mean, when I see him, sure I see his soul and how familiar it is but it isn't what it was before. It's more mundane." A tear ran down my cheek.

Cam reached forward and squeezed my knee in an attempt to console me. The others looked down as they too realized the truth.

"Our Daniel Grigori isn't coming back. Daniel Green is here to stay. A love between a mortal and an angel can't stand." I choked out before sobbing

"Luce!" Arriane said shocked

"You can't give him up Luce! Gosh! Daniel went seven millenia." Annabelle gasped.

"He knew I was coming back though Annabelle. That the real me would return and now...he's going to get older, die and never come back. Those were The Throne's terms. He'll only get one life. I can't be selfish and take away everything that he'll want out of his life! Someone to have a family with. Someone to grow old with and sit on the porch with him in the evenings. Cam, Roland even you Annabelle saw how angelic relationships with mortals work out!" I sighed as I glanced at Cam and Roland, who both looked at me with a look of grief, understanding and sympathy.

"It's up to you, Luce. Whatever you say." Cam said.

"I have to leave him, otherwise he'll die and it will be all my fault." I sobbed as tears burned the back of my eyelids and before long. I let out a cry before I buried my head into my legs and the others moved closer to console me as my heart shatters.

* * *

I smirked as I gazed into the shadow that showed the scene before me.

"Good job, Edgar. Not only did you do what I asked but you broke our little friend." I mused as I turned away from the shadow towards the creature.

I descended the stairs towards him. "You've earned your wings." I smirk as I wave my hand and watched as the purest of white wings unfurled from his back.

"They should serve you well, they do belong to an Archangel after all." I smirk and wink.

"Thank-you, my master. Is there any other way I can serve you?" The creature's happy voice spoke as he bowed.

"Tell the others, that our plan has changed and we'll be reaching Phase Three sooner than expected. Tell them to prepare." I announce as I turned back to look at heart-broken Lucinda.

"Prepare for what, my lordship?" The creature asked.

I turned my head to look at him and grinned.

"War, my friend. War."


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

Something was wrong. I woke coughing and sputtering. My fingers bent into a claw as I began scratching at my shoulder blades. The white-hot pain never faltered, it felt like something had been pulled out. Was there blood? No, otherwise It would be running down my back right? The frantic beeping of a machine at my side harmonized with my heartbeat which pounded inside my chest. Heavy footsteps sounded on the tiled floor outside the door. Dad was the first to reach me. "Hey, Hey! Daniel calm down. You're fine!" He said sternly as his hands grabbed at my hands as his brown eyes burned into my gray ones with concern. The oxygen mask over my mouth and nose was fogged with condensation from my rapid breathing. "It's okay, honey. You're safe now." The honey thick soothing voice of my mother spoke into my ear as she gently pushed my shoulders until my back hit the hard mattress of the hospital bed. I cried out as my shoulders touched the mattress. Mom and Dad looked at each other. "What's wrong with him?!" I heard Everett ask panicked as he stood by Dad. I cried out again. "Shoulders...HURT!" I cried out as the white-hot pain engulfed me, I felt helpless and depressed as if a part of my soul had been taken.

Mom and Dad shared a look. "Let him lean forward." Mom whispered softly as she carefully helped me up. "I'II get a nurse." Everett said before he ran off. Dad came round and checked my back and with a feather-soft touch ran his fingers over my shoulders and frowned before looking at Mom and shook his head. "What is it?!" I gasped in pain. "There's nothing there sweetheart! It may just be stress, you have been through a trauma." Mom spoke as she gently laid me back. I cried out again as my shoulder blades touched the mattress. "What happened?!" A frantic voice demanded and I looked in the direction the voice came from to find. Luce standing in the doorway. She was still wearing her blue bikini top and her blue short swim shorts though a long beige cardigan now hung to the backs of her thighs and it billowed out behind her as she quickly moved to my side and looked at me with the utmost concern. "Luce." I breathed as I lifted a hand and placed my palm against her cheek. Her hand lifted and held my hand there. "I'm here." She said softly as she lowered herself into the chair beside my bed and gently lifted the oxygen mask off of my mouth and nose and pushed it down, so she could put it back on quickly if she needed to. The pain dulled until it seemed like nothing. "I'm sorry if I scared you." I whispered. "Scared me? You nearly gave me a heart-attack." She whispered and her hazel eyes began to glisten with water. "Don't cry, It kills me when you cry." I say softly. With her free hand she wiped her eyes. "So what planned in here?" A voice asks as a nurse steps in, with Everett in toll. "Just a short episode of post traumatic stress. I think he's fine now." Mom explains to the nurse. The nurse looked from Luce to me. "Umm-hu." The nurse said as she made her way off to the machines to analysis their readings. Once she was happy she left the room. "Don't leave me." I whispered to Luce. Her face gave off an expression of shock and then it seemed to crumple in on itself and tears flowed freely down her cheeks which I quickly brushed away with my thumbs. A doctor then entered and Luce moved away so the doctor could assess whether to keep me in or let me go. After a while he decided I was good to go and we all made our way out of the hospital. Luce was quieter than usual and moved away from me when I tried to pull her to me or even take her hand. "Leave her be, for a while. What happened today took a massive toll on her and completely stressed the poor thing out." Mom said as she came up beside me. "Her and I, both!" I grumbled

When we got back to the house, Luce went to go up to her room but I stopped her. "Luce, What's wrong?" I asked. "Nothing." She said and put on the most forced half smile I have ever seen. "Tell me the truth." I whisper as I push her hair back and take her face in my hands and forced her to look into my eyes. Her eyes locked with mine. Her hazel eyes seemed to hold a world of grief and despair before they hardened..I frown slightly. "I'm serious, Daniel. Nothing's wrong. I just need to be alone for a moment. Okay!" She snapped before she roughly pulled out of the embrace and ran up the stairs. "What's up with our lil' Lu?" Everett asked as he appeared at my side. "I dunno." I frown as I went to follow her. "Dude, Just give her some space. I don't think I've ever seen a girl so distraught as your little lovebird was today. I thought she was going to have a break-down." Everett said as he grabbed my arm.

* * *

I collapsed onto my bed and buried my face in my hands before I felt the bed dip and I moved a hand and found Francesca on the bed. "Today, was quite rough wasn't it?" She sighed as she gently and soothingly stroked my hair. "So what happened when you left with Cam?" She asked. I sobbed as I thought of everything that had happened. I didn't think so much could go wrong in one day. In less than twenty-four freaking hours! I as calmly as I could muster at that point in time explained to Francesca everything that had happened with the Creature. "You're giving up on him?!" She gasped. "It's not exactly giving up, I'II still watch over and protect him. He just won't be with me." I mutter monotonously. "So...You are willing to sit back and watch as Daniel grows older, falls in love with someone who isn't you. Has a family without you and grows old and dies by another woman's side!" Francesca says incredulously. "Well, what do you want me to do?! Huh! Do you want me to stay with him, just to have him killed!" I snapped as I sat up and glared at her. "He stayed with you, Luce. The amount of pain and suffering he endured because he knew that at the end of the day. When the curse broke that you and him would be together and nothing else mattered more to him! He believed in you! He placed all of his faith in you, he lost his position for you and he gave up his wings for you!" Francesca glared "You and Daniel share the purest love I have ever seen and you are THAT willing to throw it away!" She exhaled in disgust. "Well, I'm sorry but at that point in time, my life was on the line because of MY position in the ranks, not because I loved him and THAT is his position now. Leverage that can be used against me. If I walk away. This Dark One, may leave him alone to live a happy life, the live he's always wanted!" I snap as I rush to my feet and glare at her. "The key words there Luce are If and May. There is no guarantee that the Dark One will leave him be, they probably already know of the history of between you and Daniel." Francesca sighed. "I'II protect him, just from the sidelines as will the others." I say with a tone of finality. I turn to go to the balcony before Francesca's voice reached me again.

"He was going to ask you to marry him, this summer." Francesca said softly. I froze. "He told me, that he knew you both were really young but he couldn't wait he was going to ask you and then have a long engagement until you two were both financially stable, if you said yes that is. Gosh, I still remember him telling me of the first time he met you. His heart had pounded so hard in his chest, that he felt physically sick. He went to walk up to you once when you were admiring flowers and hadn't noticed him but he panicked and turned and went to leave and just forget about you but he stopped and shook his head and knew that if he didn't at least talk to you, he would regret it for the rest of his days. He said that he was intoxicated by your laugh, your smile and your eyes. He never wanted the moment to end. He just wanted to sit in that courtyard with you under the starlit sky forever. Every summer when you two were apart he used to mope around the house and keep checking his phone waiting for you to call back or for you to finish work so he could call." Francesca smiled as she remembered everything.

My eyes filled with tears again and my hands clenched at my sides in frustration. My heart broke more as I suddenly realized what I had lost. Opportunity. The opportunity to walk down the aisle. A handcrafted one, made in the woods, fairy lights strung through the branches of trees. White Peonies tied with red ribbon to the trunks of trees. The opportunity to build a house with Daniel and argue over the colour of the walls and carpets. The opportunity to watch as Daniel cradled our first child in his arms as he cooed to him or her to quiet their cries. So many opportunities that were no longer available to me. I quietly walked out onto the balcony and walked to the railing and crossed my arms on it before burying my head into them. After a good cry, I looked up at the stars and tried to calm down before I spotted something peculiar. A big dark blob in the sky positioned in the center of the high full moon. Orange light sparked and seemed to fall and then the ball grew larger and larger before it crashed into the roof of the house and exploded the shear force of the explosion, pushing me off to balcony and sent me falling to the dark ground below.

"Don't say, I didn't warn you." A cruel voice said in my head as my body hit the ground


	14. Chapter 13

Hey Guys, So sorry about the delay in posting. College has been insanely busy. I've a break coming up so hopefully I will be able to write more. Thanks for sticking with me. Please don't forget to review. It's much appreciated.

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**Chapter Thirteen**

I awoke to the harsh, wailing noises of sirens. My eyes fluttered but didn't open as I coughed out the smoke that had gathered in my lungs. Eventually I got my eyes to open but my vision was extremely blurry and clouded. I lifted my head off the ground dizzily and gazed around at the disoriented surrounding area. Large orange flames licked at the black, smoke smothered sky. Too weak to hold the weight of my dead up any longer I let my head fall back down and cried out in agony as the pain hit me causing stars the enhance the blurriness of my vision. "Luce!" A voice called, though it almost sounded as though I was under water. I half smiled. "Luce! Where are you?! Luce!" The frantic angelic voice called. "Oh, God! No!" I heard the angel cry out in anguish followed by the heavy pounding of feet crushing the debris of Daniel's house into the ground. I felt heavy hands press against my head. "Hey!" A soft voice spoke. I shifted my head slightly wincing at the pain and gazed up into the grey-violent eyes. "Stay with me, you're going to be fine." He cooed as he gently and precariously stroked my hair. "DAD! EVERETT!" He bellowed out. I was close to laughing at the situation. If only he knew, how much our _actually_ first meeting resembled this. I went to raise my hand to place over his to sooth him but my arm was stuck by my side. Daniel leant down and kissed my forehead gently. "You're going to be okay, Luce. Stay. Don't leave me!" He cried. I gazed up into his face and watched as his tears mingled with the blood that meandered down the left side of his face in multiple crimson paths.

More footsteps ensued and then the faces of Steven and Everett came into focus. "Oh, Shit!" Everett gasped as he saw my predicament. Steven with a look of frustrated hopelessness scanned the debris crushing my body, looking for anyway to get it off without revealing his true nature to his sons. "There's nothing we can do, T-There's too much on top of her." Everett spoke softly. "There's so much blood too!" He swallowed and I watched as his face went white with nausea. "Shut. Up." Daniel snarled at his brother. Steven extended his hand onto his Daniel's shoulder. "Dan, we can't move her, we're just going to have to try and make her as comfortable as possible." Steven spoke softly. Daniel's eyes widened in horror. "S—s-she's not going to die, Dad. No! You don't know her. You have no idea how strong she is! She can do anything." Daniel cried up at his father. Steven looked down at his son and then up at the fiery remains of his house. "Fran-Charlotte, Where's Charlotte?" I asked weakly as I looked up at Steven who's face contorted with agony and grief. "She's with a paramedic, who's trying to treat her for third degree burns and the loss of a hand." He choked out. I swallowed. "Daniel." I said as I shifted my head once again so I was looking directly at him. "Yes. I'm still here." He said soothingly as he gently stroked my face. "Go to an ambulance." I said weakly "And leave you?! Hell no!" He scoffed. "Daniel please, your head. It's really bad. I'II still be here." Daniel was about to protest when Steven said. "I'II stay with her and call if anything happens. Just go Daniel, please. I'm sure your mother would like to see you, anyway." Daniel with a frustrated, yet conflicted look, gazed down at me before kissing me gently. "Don't leave me." He choked out as he slowly got to his feet before trudging in the direction of where the flashing lights of an ambulances beacon were. "Everett, go with him and make sure he gets treated." Steven said in a monotone. "Umm, yeah dad sure." Everett said too fast as he stumbled nauseously after his brother. "Luce." Steven began. My mouth twitched downwards as water filled my eyes. "I know, Steven." I choked out as the water spilled over my eyes. I sobbed as I heard Steven crouch down and gently wipe my cheeks. "I know, why I'm not healing….. I only gained part of my angelic soul, my wings. No other perks" I manage to say relatively clearer in between sobs. Steven's sympathetic grief-stricken eyes bore down into mine. "We'll make them pay, Luce!" He snarled. "For doing his to you, to Francesca, to Everett and Daniel." He finished as he stroked my hair. "Was he really going to propose?" I asked as I gazed up at the dark blanket of smoke. "Yes." Steven said weakly. "My god, you have no idea how annoying he was, describing every single little detail and giving out to us if he thought we weren't listening to him." He chuckled half-heartedly as he swiped his tears away. My lips switched slightly into a smile.

"Isn't that just swell. You and Danny-boy were to be married!" A mocking, terribly portrayed southern accent voice sang, causing me to jump slightly as my eyes flicked to the direction the voice had come from. "YOU!" Steven snarled as he stood up and charged at the figure stood atop the debris on top of me. _BANG! _A flash of white sent Steven sprawling far back onto the sand of the beach. The figure chuckled before they turned their attention to me. "You should have listened to me." They snarled. "You and I could have taken over the world. Put into place our own empire!" They hissed as they approached with the grace of a predator about to pounce on their prey. "I'm sorry for any inconvenience I caused." I chuckled before breaking down in a fit of coughing as blood trickled out of the side of my mouth. "You poor wee thing." The Dark One mocked as she tilted my chin up with her staff to see the blood as it travelled along my cheek to my jawline. The action caused me to hiss in pain. The Dark One smirked. "There's only one thing left to do now and that is to do the humane thing and put you down…. little birdy." The Dark One mocked as she raised her staff and twirled it around to reveal its blunt straight silver edge. A star shot modified into the shape of a staff. "Bye-Bye little girl." They mocked as they dove the starshot down. I squeezed my eyes shut and awaited my fate before I heard a gasp and two heavy thuds. "Didn't your mother ever teach you, to be nice to others." A familiar voice hissed. I opened my eyes to find Arriane crouched protectively in between me and The Dark One. The Dark One howled in rage and charged at Arriane just as Annabelle swooped in and kicked The Dark One to the ground sending them sprawling into the dirt. "EDGAR!" They bellowed as she got to her feet. "Looking for this one?" A voice called back as Roland came into view restraining The creature who had nearly drowned Daniel and who had stolen his wings, which were no longer attached to the creature's body but wrapped up and hanging from one of Roland's broad shoulders.

"You Idiot." The Dark One snarled at Edgar, who flinched at their master's tone. In the blink of an eye. The Dark One was pinned beneath Cam. "Now, Let's see who you nearly are!" Cam snarled as he pressed his arm into The Dark One's throat and ripped off the mask. Revealing a woman, with fiery red, wavy hair. Cam's eyes widen and I saw his lips form a word but couldn't hear it. The others wore expressions of shock also. The Dark One, taking advantage of Cam's Surprise kicked him off and stood before disappearing in a flash of smoke. Cam lay on his back and stared at where The Dark One had disappeared in shock and horror. "Lilith!" He spoke. Arriane, Annabelle and Roland, quickly snapped out of their trance and raced over. Annabelle held a bottle to my lips. "Open your mouth and drink, quickly!" She said softly as Roland and Arriane picked their way through the debris. I drank and felt all tingly. As I was freed, I noticed that the rate of the blood that was pooling around me had stopped. "What was that?" I asked Annabelle. "A healing potion." She smiled. As she helped me to my feet. "Who was that? How do you know her?" I asked Cam who slowly got to his feet but still didn't speak. "That was Lilith. Cam's first love. She broke his heart a couple of millennia ago, she's the reason why he changed sides. We all thought she was dead after all she apparently threw herself off a cliff but obviously not." Arriane explained. "What did she say to you before she disappeared?" Roland asked. "To prepare." Cam whispered. "Prepare? Prepare for what?" I asked. "Battle. She has initiated an End-Game. In a weeks' time, at the time of the Total Lunar Eclipse, there will be a battle but it's like nothing we're seen before, for this battle to end, either Luce must defeat her, or Lilith must defeat Luce." He choked out. "Where one shall stand triumphant will all. The Other shall fall and have nothing at all." I gasp out. Cam nodded. He and I both knew what was going to happen. Lilith is going to be triumphant and I'm going to fall as I have no experience with warfare unlike her.


	15. Chapter 14

Hey guys, just in case some of you are very strict in your religious beliefs, I just want to warn you, that for the purpose of the story, I may change some details, but I do not mean to offend anyone. If you find an aspect offensive send me a PM and I'II deal with the situation as best as I can. Don't forget to review! Enjoy!

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**Chapter Fourteen**

**Two Days Later**

I awoke and squinted at the line of sunlight that ran across my eyes. I raised my hands and rubbed my eyes before squinting at my alarm clock to see 12:30 displayed in big, block, red numbers. I groaned and rolled over and closed my eyes before they flung open again and I gasped and scrambled backwards, nearly falling off the bed in the process. "Mornin' or should I say afternoon." Cam smirked as he waggled his eyebrows. I groaned as I pulled a pillow over my head. "O, come on Luce! You haven't left this bed for the last two days. I know…." He trailed off and sighed. "Just come on, out and eat something at least. Please." Cam pleaded. "Not Hungry." I spoke monotonously. Cam sighed. "I know you're hurt, Luce. But you're wasting away up here." He spoke and I left the bed shift as he moved closer to me and moved the pillow from over my face. Tears slipped down my cheeks as Cam's face came into view. He looked down at me pitifully before sighing as he got to his feet and went around to my side of the bed and took my hands before pulling me out of bed. "Cam, just leave me alone. Please." I protest as I struggle in his grip. "No can do, Luce." He huffed out as he threw me over his shoulder and carried me downstairs. The delicious scent of Chicken Korma wafted up my noise as we entered the Kitchen. Annabelle stood at the stove, while a flour covered Arriane stood at the island in the centre of the kitchen rolling out dough. Roland was sat at the oak wood table with his head in his hands reading some document. "What happened to you?" Cam smirked as he placed me allowed me to stand on my own two feet before he went over to Arriane and swiped some of the flour off of her face. "Get off!" She hissed as she swatted him away. Annabelle took the pan off the heat as she came over to me. "Hey, how you doing?" She asked soothingly as she stroked my wrists. I just looked at her. "Right, sorry. Stupid Question. We're making your favourite. Chicken Korma…...No idea what Arriane is making to be honest." She chuckled. "Thanks." I choked out as I made my way to the table and sat opposite Roland, who looked up and gave me a smile, before he reached over and took my hand. "It'll get better Luce just give it time." He said and in his eyes for the first time since I remember meeting him. I saw a grave sadness. Did he once loss a love too? I squeezed his hand back. "Thanks Roland!" I smiled half-heartedly. Before he turned his attention back to the document. I let my mind wander back.

* * *

_Knock! Knock! _I unrolled myself from my ball form on the bed and twisted as I glanced over at the door. "Luce? You there?" His voice called. I swallowed before I as quietly as I could, cleared my throat "Coming." I called back as I wiped the tears from my cheeks before I slowly rose from my hotel room bed. Before I opened the door I checked my face in the mirror and cringed at my reflection. My eyes were slightly red and puffy from crying and the meandering paths of dried tears were slightly visible. Thank God, I didn't wear mascara today. I waited a couple more seconds to get the redness and puffiness of my eyes improve slightly. With a sigh I opened the door and felt my worries fade away as grey-violet eyes melted into my own. As usual when I've been apart from him for a single moment of time and we reunite, my heart races and my breath catches. "Hi." I gasped out as I smiled. "Hi there, beautiful." He grinned back before frowning as he notices my eyes. "You okay?" He asks. "Yeah, just allergies." I lie smoothly. "Well, care to take a walk with me." He asks "I don't know. I'm tired and I gotta finish packing." I sigh as I leant into the door. I wasn't lying. I was exhausted, the past couple of days or week had really taken their toll. "It won't be long, I promise." He says as he catches my arms in his hands and looks me in the eyes with the dopiest looking puppy dog eyes ever. I bite my lip and try and resist but sigh in defeat. "Fine, you seriously know how to get me to agree to anything don't you." I smirk as I shake my head. He chuckles and winks at me while moving his head to the side as she arm moves around my waist and he pulls me out the door until my body is crushed against his. "The puppy-dog eyes never fail." He chuckles as he leans down and gently presses his lips against mine. I wrap my arms tightly around him. _This might just be our last kiss. _I think to myself causing a fresh tear to slide down my cheek. Daniel pulls back as he his thumbs which were stroking my cheeks throughout the kiss touch the tear. "Allergies, huh? Seriously Lu, what's wrong?" He asks as he presses his forehead to mine. "Nothing." I whisper. "Just tired." I sigh as I lean into him. "Come on then." He whispers back as he firmly moves his hands from my face to his side before snaking an arm firmly around my waist, holding me up. We walk to the elevator then out the back doors of the hotel to the beach. Once we near the sand I take my scandals off and hold them in one hand. Daniel does the same with his flip-flops before returning his free arm around my waist. I wrap my free arm around him as well. "So, I've heard congratulations are in order. Dad told me that you aced every single final and have come out with the top degree possible in Medicine!" He smiles but I can tell he's hurt by the fact that I never told him myself. "Thanks, I was going to tell you. I was just looking for a perfect way to say it." I smile as I look up at him. "Didn't I tell you, that you could do it?" He grinned with pride. "You did, indeed." I smile as I look at the waves as they gently crest and fall upon the shore.

"Speaking of degrees, what are your plans for." He pauses and with the knuckles of this hand that hold his flip-flops he scratches the back of his head. I look up at him. "for the future?" He asks. _Oh No! Not now, god please not now! _I think to myself. "Can't say I've thought about it to be honest." I shrug. I swallow before I say. "You?" He smiles down at me. "Yeah, I have. A lot recently, actually. God, knows where my degrees in English and Science will take me, maybe teaching. I don't know. The only thing I know for definite is that for the rest of my life…." We stop walking and he turns me until I'm standing in front of him. He drops his flip-flops into the sand as one of his hands reaches up to caress my face. "I want your face to be the last I see every night and the first thing I see every morning. I want to be that couple that really does stay together, where everyone is like "Wow! After all this time, they are still together?! I think….no I'm certain I'II never stop falling in love with you. Wherever the future does take me I want to be able to look to my side and see you there right by my side." My vision blurs with tears as I move my hand to cover his. "Whenever you're not around. I'm always thinking of you or wishing that I had you in my arms, where I know for sure that you're safe. You are so precious to me, Lucinda. Sometimes I just wait to wake up and realise that you are just a dream, but you're not. You're real and you have no idea how lucky I feel that I am yours and that you are mine." He whispers softly as he looks into my eyes, his thumbs moving up to brush my tears away before drawing away from me. He sighs before he lowers himself down onto one knee and with a slight look of fear pulls out a small velvet box. "Lucinda Eloise Prior, I promise to protect you from any dangers we may encounter, to love you infinitely for forevermore. I promise to cherish and love in a way no other man could. Would you do me the extraordinary honour of marrying me?" He asks, his expression looked like he was about to cry as he opened the box to reveal the nicest ring I'd ever seen. It was white gold and had one big crystal-clear diamond in the middle and smaller diamonds but of the same clarity embedded in the ring, running down on either side of the big diamond until they disappeared at the near the very bottom. I was close to tears too, as anyone could tell by the volume of water in my eyes but not out of joy but out of grief, despair and anger at what I was about to do. "I—I." I tried to say "I—I 'm sorry, I can't." His face fell as my words sunk in. "I can't do this anymore, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I drew it out this long." I wanted to kill myself for causing the look that took over his face after the last sentence. Tears flowed freely down my cheeks. I wanted nothing more to drop down beside him and kiss him and never let him go, to run away with him and let the worries of the impending war disappear but I couldn't. "I'm so sorry, Daniel." I sobbed as I ran off towards the hotel, as soon as I was far enough away. I unfurled my wings and took to the sky. Tears streamed down my face. I flew to an isolated part of the island and texted Arriane to ask her to get my stuff before I just screamed my anguish into the night. Cam found me shortly after but I was curled up on the ground, hyperventilating from crying so much and still crying. He gently picked me up before flying me to the house where he and the others stayed. "He'll forgive you, Luce. After we're finished, you can go back to him. He'll forgive you." He said softly. "No! No he won't. You didn't see his face, Cam. I broke his heart. He'll never forgive me for that." I cried into his shirt. After a couple more minutes he landed. Arriane and Annabelle stood at the door and took me off of Cam and guided me up the stairs and got me ready for bed. They didn't say anything as I climbed into the bed and curled in on myself. Annabelle patted my back soothingly as Arriane stroked my hair as I cried myself to sleep. For the two days that followed, I would stay in bed as the others frantically tried to come up with a plan on how I was to defeat the 'Dark One'. No-one except Cam (though he was there on the night.) asked me what exactly had happened but I could tell that they already knew.

* * *

"Luce? Luce!" I shook my head as I came back to reality, to see Annabelle pushing my plate of foot in front of me. "Oh, Sorry!" I sighed as I looked at the plate of Chicken Korma and rice in front of me as I began to eat the meal in front of me, the others sat down and looked at me. "We think we may have found a way for you to beat Lilith." Roland announced. "How? She's stronger than me!" I sigh. "Her strength is different from yours. Yours is based on you physically. But Lilith's is based on this cuff that one of your followers saw her wearing. It's an enhancer, for want of a better term. It enhances her strength yadda, yadda, yadda. Basically if you can get that cuff off, she's a sitting duck." Annabelle explained. "And how on earth am I meant to do that, if she's stronger than I am?" I ask after swallowing a mouthful of Chicken. "Luckily you have quite the team backing you, Archangel Michael for instance. Who helped the Throne, defeat Lucifer's forces when he first tried to return to the fold after he was banished. He's the best warrior of all the angels and he's agreed to train you." Cam announced. "Why?" I gasp. "Since there haven't been many battles, his second priority is ensuring the safety of mankind. As Lilith is one of the darkest forces around at present he naturally wants to stop her but knows that his only hope of achieving that is by training you." Roland answers. "He's hot too." Arriane said. Annabelle turned and thumped her hard around the side of the head. "OW!" Arriane protested as she rubbed her head. "I'm just stating the facts." Arriane complained. I swallowed. "How is _he_?" Annabelle looked at me sympathetically. "I spoke to Francesca, he stays in his Hotel Room, he won't see anyone. He says he wants to be alone for a while. Since his brother…. Emmett? No Everest?" "Everett." Arriane corrected. "Thanks, Everett, shares the room with him, he goes in and checks on him every hour during the day but sleeps in the hotel room you had, to give him some space." Annabelle reported. I nodded and stared blankly at my plate. "This Michael guy? He knows I'm inexperienced right?" I ask. "Yeah, which is why, if you agree, you start training now." Cam answered.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

While I was finishing my lunch, Arriane went to get some clothes for me to wear. While Annabelle drew me a bath full of bubbles and a dash of a mysterious essence which automatically but me at ease once I got in. It cleared my mind of Daniel and all the other troubles I've been facing recently. After I bathed and got dressed. Cam and the others lead me outside into the garden at the back. I freeze slightly as I notice a dark silhouette, casually leaning against a tree on the far side of the garden. "So, it is true. The infamous Lucinda has returned." The man spoke as he pushed off the tree and strode towards us, his hands jammed in his pockets. As, he came closer his features became clearer. He had brown hair that was growing out of a military buzz cut. His eyes were a clear grey and held mine. He was broad in build and was tall probably around 6 foot 2. I blushed slightly at his comment. "So, you ready to train?" He asked, clapping his hands together as he stopped in front of me, as a smile pulled at his lips. "Sure, I guess." I sighed as I shook my hands out.

_"__Offt!"_ I gasped out as I landed on my back, Michael stood above me, the tip of his sword inches from my face. "Didn't you go to a gym or anything before you came back?" He smirked as he lowered his sword as he crouching slightly before grabbing my arm and pulling me up. "I was a part of the swim and track team." I comment. Michael smirks and shakes his head. "We have four days of training before the battle." He states. "Well then we better keep at it then." I reply as optimistically as I can. He turns his head slightly as if assessing me. "Training won't help if you aren't committed to it." He states. "I am!" I protest. "You're not, what happened between you and Daniel is still occupying your mind." He sighs as he brings the sword behind his head and holds on to the distal edge of the blade with his free hand. I deflate at the sound of Daniel's name. I hear Michael sigh. "Listen, Lucinda. I know it's hard what you're going to. Heck, you gave up your position for him! You've given him the chance of having a normal life but if Lilith succeeds, he won't have any life! Lilith will take over everything. So fight and save him! If you aren't focused on the task, then I hate to break it to you but you will lose." Michael sighs. I look at him as my mind flashes back to when that creature, Edgar nearly killed Daniel. How Daniel lay limp on the sand as the lifeguards cuddled around him in an attempt to resuscitate him. My hands clench at my side. "Good! Let your hatred for what Lilith and her followers have done be the one thing that drives you on." Michael encouraged. I took a deep breath before looking up at him. "I can do this!" I say confidently. "We all know you can." Michael smiles as he hands me my sword. "En Garde!" He bellows as I jump into action. The only sound I can hear is metal smashing against metal as we fight. "Watch your flank!" Michael says as he moves on the flank I had intentionally left open. I parry his sword before smashing my elbow into his sword wielding hand and watch as the sword falls into the grass. Michael lifts his hands and smiles. "You win, you just need to work on your strength and a bit on your stamina but other than that, it's a game of chance of whether you're capable of getting that cuff off of Lilith." Michael says. I nod. He continues to train me until the sun starts to set. "I'd say, that'll do for the day." He smirks as he sheathes his sword and takes the sword I had borrowed back. "Yeah, don't think I'm able to do much more today." I half-smile. Which is the truth, my legs are like jelly and blisters are beginning to form on my hands. "I must say though, for someone who hasn't fought with an actual sword for millennia, you're not half bad." Michael smiles as he picks up the boxes in which he put the swords in. "Thanks….not bad yourself I guess." I blush. He laughs. "Night, Lucinda." He smiles as his wings unfurl. My jaw drops at the sight of them, they are the fullest and purest looking wings I think I've ever seen. They seem to hum gloriously also. Michael smirks at my reaction. "See you tomorrow, now go get some rest, you'll need it." He orders before he takes off into the air.

As Michael slowly becomes out of sight, My phone rings in my pocket. I pull it out and answer. "Hello?" I call. "Luce! Is Daniel with you?" Francesca cries. "No, why? What's happened." I ask as I clench the phone tighter. "Something bad has happened. Everett went up to check on him and the door was busted in and…...blood was covering the walls, There's bloody handprints all over the walls. Steven's dealing with it, but we have no clue where Daniel is!" Francesca states. I feel my blood run cold as I swallow. "I—I—I'II be right there." I answer as I hang up and let my wings out. Just as I'm about to take off, something appears on the bench by the doors that lead into the garden. I run over and see a starshot and an ordinary wooden arrow tied into a cross position with a note.

**8pm, Most Western Point on William's Island. Come alone or Daniel dies.**

**Don't be late and don't tell anyone!**

I swallow as I pick up the arrows and glance inside where the angels and demons are debating back and forth, probably about the best strategies. I silently take off and fly as quickly as I can towards Williams Island. I look at my watch. 7:50. I swallow as I try to fly even faster than before, I end up making it, with five minutes to spare. I land and quickly survey my surroundings. "I knew she'd fall for the trap. Nicely planned, dear one." Lilith speaks as she comes out into view. "Too love-sick and gullible for her own good." Another voice speaks causing me to freeze. "Hello, Luce." He smirks. I snarl. "How could you? What did you do to Daniel, Everett?!" I growl. "Nothing, he's safe, unlike you." He smirks as he whistles. I'm suddenly restrained from behind and I feel a burning sensation in my left arm and look to see Edgar injecting me with something. "What are you doing?!" I gasp. Lilith laughs. "Isn't it obvious? Getting rid of you?!" She smirks. "You know the drill." She says to Edgar. I freeze as I feel all my energy drain out of my body. The people restraining me release me and I tumble to the ground face first. "This should only hurt…. a lot." Edgar laughs as I see him produce a starshot. I struggle but in reality I hardly move as Edgar and another of Lilith's followers slice my wings off. I scream in agony before Everett knocks me unconscious.


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen **

I kicked up sand as I walked along the beach, my hands jammed in the pockets of my rolled up jeans as I walked at the water's edge. Every now and then a larger wave would break and the warm, salty water would soak my feet. I looked out at the clear blue ocean. At the horizon line, the setting sun seemed to set fire as the vivid reds, yellows and oranges. _I can't do this anymore. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I drew it out this long! _ My hands clenched inside my pockets at the memory and the heart-break that followed. When I hadn't shown up for dinner that night or answered any of Dad or Everett's calls or texts, Mum came up to check on me. After I'd let her in, she sat beside me on the bed and her eyes fell on the shattered photo frame at the foot of the wall adjacent to us. She frowned and stood and walked over and very carefully turned the shattered photo frame over revealing a picture of Luce and I. It was the weekend before we broke up for Christmas last year. Luce was wearing a knitted light grey hat and a white knitted sweater underneath a faux grey/black fur trimmed parka. She had her eyes closed and her cheeks were flushed with the cold. A close mouthed grin pulled at her lips. I was wearing a black coat and my red scarf. I had my chin resting on her head, my arms wrapped around her. The picture was taken by Nora just before Luce's friend, hit her in the black of the head with a snowball. "Get a room!" She had hollered before Luce had broken away from me and made a snowball and threw in at Hailey, who had ducked and got my friend, Zac square in the face. And so began a huge snowball fight. Luce's laughter rung in my ears. Mum looked up at me, with a sympathetic look on her face. "Oh…. Daniel I'm so sorry." I half smiled back at her before letting out a deep breath. "These things happen." I sighed through the lump in my throat. Mum placed the photo frame on the desk before coming back over to me and sat beside me. "She said and I quote. 'I'm so sorry, I drew it out this long.'" I said as I ran both of my hands up my forehead and through my hair. "Oh, Darling." She said in that soft, soothing voice of hers. I let out another sigh but this time it was shakier. "If you don't mind, I just want to be alone for a while." I say as I looked up at her. "Of course, if you need anything, just call us. Okay?" She says as she gently rubs my arm. "Yeah, of course. I will." I half-smiled as she patted my back before exiting the room. From then on I had mainly just moped inside my hotel room until this evening, I had, had enough of staring at the ceiling and acting all oh-woe-is-me and now here I am. "Daniel!" I heard a voice yell and I turned to find Mum sprinting down the beach. She reached me and wrapped her arms around me. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" She said quickly as she started patting me down, looking for injuries. "I'm fine, I guess. Why?" I asked her suspicious. "Your hotel room, it was broken into and there was blood everywhere, I thought…...O, god! Your father, brother, Luce and I have been looking for you for the past three hours." She said just as quickly with fear and relief more than present in her voice as she threw her arms around me in a hug again. My heart ached when she mentioned Luce but I pushed it to the back of my mine. "Hey, it's okay." I said as I hugged her back. "You found him! Finally!" Everett called as he jogged along the beach towards us. "You had all of us worried sick!" Everett scolded as he reached us and hugged me. "I thought you were with your father, where is he?" Mum asked as she looked around. Everett smirked as he took something out of his pocket and threw it at Mum. There was a bang and Mum fell onto the sand. I coughed as I inhaled some of the fumes. I looked down at Mum before looking back up at Everett. "What the hell?!" I exclaim as I crouched down and shook Mum gently, making sure that Everett was in my view at all times. "She'll be fine, it only knocked her out." Everett said. "Why?" I asked as I straighten up. "To get you alone. I'm sorry, Daniel. I really am." He sighed as I looked at him confused. "For what?" I asked warily as I backed up. "This." A feminine voice said from behind me as I turned something collided with my head knocking me out cold.

I groaned as I slowly came to. The pain in my head was excruciating, so I kept my eyes squeezed shut. "Daniel?" I heard a soothing but worried familiar voice call as I felt slight pressure on my cheek. The pain seemed to ease just at the sound of her voice. My eyes opened but my vision was really blurry. "Daniel, can you hear me?" Her voice spoke again as her free hand took one of mine in hers. "Luce." I breathed out as my eyes finally focused on her. Her face was smudged with dirt and her long black hair hung lanky and was dirty and all tangled. "Are you okay?" She asked concerned as she looked all over my face. "I'm fine." I said monotonously as I pushed away from her and scrambled backwards until my back hit something metallic. My vision focused in on my surroundings. Bars and solid metal floor and ceiling. A cage. The sun was also mid-way in the sky, which means, I've been out for at least fifteen hours, more than I've ever slept in ages. I looked back at Luce who sighed and moved backwards as well, obviously giving me space. Though her eyes never left me, they were filled with Concern and something else. Grief or Despair. When our eyes met, her gaze held mine like her life depended on it. "Stop." I whispered. "Stop what?" She asked softly. "Looking at me like that! Less than a week after you tell me you don't love me!" I growl at her. She cringes before my words sink in and she seems to boil with rage. "I never said that, Daniel." She hisses. "Oh really." I scoff. "_I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to drag it out so long. _Begs to differ." I snapped She swallows and clenches her hands causing her fingers to dig into her jeans. Her expression softens. "I didn't mean it. God Daniel, I love you so much, I said what I said to protect you! I wouldn't have loved anything more than to marry you, Daniel!" She said softly as she met my eyes. Before I could answer, Everett appeared. "Quit the quarrel, lovebirds!" He sighs as he nears the cage and opens the gate. I see Luce's posture change and she moves so she's a bit closer to me, but the way she's sat gives out the air of protective. "Don't worry, Lu." He smirks mockingly. "I'm here for you, not him." He smirks as he reaches in and grabs her arm roughly and tightly. "Get your hands off her!" I snarl as I move and kick his arm in a way that it slams off the bar and my shoe. He yelps in pain as I hear a crack. I push Luce out of the way and go to move so I can kick Everett out of the way, so we could escape but Luce catches my arm and pulls me back. "No!" She says. "What the hell?!" I yelled at her. "You are a naughty boy, aren't you?" A feminine voice mused. I turned and saw a woman with fiery red hair approach. Luce growled and moved so she was more in front of me than beside me. "What do you want?" Luce snarled. I was taken aback by her tone, I had never heard her talk like that before. "Just wanted to see what the lovebirds looked like together. Can't say I'm impressed." The woman chuckled darkly. I looked uneasily between Luce and the Woman. Suddenly Luce was yanked out of the cage and the door was slammed shut just as I reached it. "Too slow, little brother." Everett mused before he picked Luce up and tossed her so she was sprawled in front of the woman. "Leave her alone!" I bellowed as I grabbed the bars and pulled myself closer, just as Everett's boot came up and stamped my fingers. I yelped. "Hurts doesn't it." He growled as he gently caressed the wrist I had stomped on. "Enough, Everett. We have to deal with our little problem here." She commanded as she stomped on Luce's shoulder blades as Luce tried to get up. Luce howled in pain and I angrily kicked at the bars. "Oops, Sorry I forgot." The woman sneered as she grabbed Luce's hair and forced her up to her feet. Luce groaned as she got to her feet. "Don't wait up." Everett smirked as he and the woman walked off with Luce, who looked back at me with a look of cold recognition. _She knows, she knows what's about to happen._ I thought. She gave me a smile. "I love you." She mouthed to me as a tear ran down her face. I shook my head. "Don't do this." I said to her just as the woman dragged her off. "Luce! Lucinda! Don't give up. I will find you! I promise!" I yell out to her. "You wish!" Everett called back. My hands clenched. _You Wish Everett. You better hope I never get out of this cage because when I do, it's over for you._

I tapped my foot impatiently. Five minutes had passed since they had taken Luce. I had to do something. They're going to kill her. My hands clenched at the thought. My mind flicked back to the way Everett had grabbed her just ten minutes ago and how he'd watched Luce during our time here. He'd watch her like she was a piece of meat. One night I remember taking him aside and telling him to back off, he had just laughed and told me to relax, he was only having fun and he'd stop. My hands clenched into such tight fists that my knuckles whitened as I went to look in the direction that the woman and Everett had taken Luce in, something white caught my eye. I frowned as I looked over to the back corner of the cage at a long white feather. It was far too long and too plush looking for any of the birds here in the Bahamas. I crawled over and picked it up. Lucinda. The thought came without being provoked. I stared at it confused, trying to figure out why Luce's name had come to mind when I picked up the feather. "Open your mind, Daniel. You know more than you think." A voice spoke. I froze and looked around but saw no-one. "Who's there?" I called. There was no answer. I shook my head and I looked back down at the feather and just like that. Pictures flashed through my mind. Luce and I throughout the ages of history. But that wasn't possible! I shook my head and gasped as nausea overcame me. "Don't fight it honey." The voice spoke again. "You need to remember in order to save her." The voice added and at that, my head spun as more images flooded my mind. Six people, a girl with long blonde hair with a southern accent. Another feisty shorter girl with a pixie hair-cut. A girl with hot-pink hair. A man with dreads. Another man with black hair and piercing green eyes and finally another girl with hair half black and half blonde with numerous piercings. Then Luce in Tibet, Savoy, Milan, Tahiti, Prussia and so many other places and then me, but different variations of me but there was one constant. Wings. I gasped as they filled my vision and grief and despair crept up within me for their loss even if it was to be human with Luce. I grunted as white hot pain localised in my shoulder blades. I reached back and tore at the skin. _CLANG! _ Something crashed into the bars of the cage with a mighty crash. I looked to see, a trembling package wrapped in silk fabric. I crawled over slowly because of the agonising pain in my shoulders and when I was in close enough proximity reached out through the bars and picked up the package which was quite heavy. I brought it inside of the cage and unwrapped it revealing two luminous white wings. I stroked the feathers gently and they suddenly disappeared and then the pain climaxed on my shoulders and I fell forward into the bars and cried out as my wings unfurled with mighty strength pushing the roof of the cage off. My body trembled at the shock of what had just happened. All I wanted to do was curl up and wait for the pain and nausea to end but Luce's face flashed in my mind and I clenched my fists as I pushed off the ground and took off. _You're going to wish you never laid a finger on her, Everett. _I thought to myself.

* * *

I groaned as I gained consciousness, after we had left Daniel's view Everett knocked me unconscious. I grunted at the pain in my arms and tried to lower them from their position above my head and frowned when I wasn't able to. I looked up to find my wrists bound together by chain which then looped around a large beam of wood before it was tied. I swallowed as I looked around and found myself on a raised platform. My ankles were bound by chains which were tied to small arches on the floor. Surrounding me was a layer of timber followed then by a layer of kindling and so on in that fashion until the platform was covered and my guess was there was timber and kindling beneath the wooden floor of the platform. "What do you think, darlin'? Kind of poetic isn't it? You're going to die the way you have so many times in the past but this time it's curtains, no reincarnations." Everett smirked as he appeared. I growled at him. He raised his eyebrows at me. "That really doesn't help your case, sweetheart." He sighed as he stroked my hair. "Such a shame and such a waste, if only you had come around when The Dark One asked you to join." He sighed. "Alas, you didn't and now you're going to pay the price." He smirked as he stepped closer to me. I squirmed slightly at his closeness. He caught my chin in his hand making me look him in the eye. "You can change your mind, Lucinda. Lilith will still accept you, you haven't done anything to cause her not to." He said as his free hand played with my hair. "You and I could overthrow Lilith and rule the world, making things the way we want them to be. You could be my queen." He said looking me in the eyes. "One person already thought I'd be their queen and that never and will never happen." I smirked. "Lucifer? Yes, yes we all know about that stupid tale, but we would be different!" He spoke softly as his face inched closer until his lips were centimetres away from mine. "Just say the word, Lucinda and I can save you." He whispered. I spat at him. He withdrew in disgust and slapped me hard across the cheek. "You stupid girl!" He hissed as he descended from the platform. "You've just sealed your own fate." He snapped as he wiped his face. "Death is kinder than belonging to you. A worthless traitor." I growled. "Enough!" Lilith yelled as she appeared carrying a can of petrol and a stick with what I'm guessing to be a petrol drenched rag tied around the top of it, like a medieval torch. "Everett." She called and handed him the can of petrol. He smiled cruelly up at me and he removed the lid and splashed the petrol all over the wood standing upright against the platform and moved a couple of them to splash the contents underneath the platform. I closed my eyes and felt myself begin to panic, tears wanted to fall but I wouldn't let Lilith or Everett have the satisfaction of being the reason for my tears. I calmed down slightly when Daniel's face popped into my mind. _I will find you._ He had yelled as I was dragged away. Not this time, my love. Not this time. "Done!" Everett called to Lilith who set alight to the rag on the branch of wood. She grinned up at me like a Cheshire Cat. "Goodbye Lucinda. It's been fun." She said as she threw the burning branch into the woodpile which immediately lit as a result of the fuel which was added to the wood. Smoke soon began to waft up through the cracks in the floorboards. I coughed as some smoke made its way into my lungs. "NO! Lucinda! No!" A voice screamed. I tried to look through the smothering layer of smoke surrounding me to see the person who belonged to that voice. Daniel.


	18. Chapter 17

_Hey Guys, It's nearly Christmas! It's unbelievable how fast the year went, I'II hopefully have another update before Christmas for you guys. I hope you're enjoying the story! Don't forget to review. What's been your favorite part of the story so far?_

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**Chapter Seventeen**

I landed heavily on the grass of the clearing. My eyes never left Luce, who was trapped on a platform, surrounded by fire and smoke. My hands clenched at my side as my eyes fell on Everett and Lilith. "You, son of a bitch!" I bellowed. He was too surprised to react as I charged at him, knocking him to the ground with one hard punch. "Ah, ah!" A feminine voice tutted. I looked up and saw Lilith poised like a lion about to pounce in between me and the platform, a sword in her hand pointed straight at me. "Leave him alone!" Luce yells before coughing as the chains binding her to the platform and pole behind her rattle as she attempts to break free of them. Lilith smirks. "Or what? What could you do, to save him?" She taunts her. "My! Oh my! This never crossed my mind at all! How agonising it must be for you, Luce! To watch the person, you've been protecting from me for so long, who is suddenly be outnumbered and at the end of my sword. What makes it even better, is that you'll get to see him die before you burn!" She smirks darkly as she carefully steps closer with the grace of a feline. I looked up at Luce, who is staring back at me with a look of pure frustration as she pulls at the chains, before a flame erupts out of the floor board in front of her nearly burning her foot. "Daniel, get out of here!" She pleads, I glance back up at her and can only barely see her face through the flames and the smoke. I shake my head. Everett is now on his feet at Lilith's side, rubbing his jaw. His eyes are boring holes into my face. I can tell what he's thinking. If only looks could kill. Lilith looks between us before throwing the sword towards me, hilt first. It clatters at my feet as it hits the ground. She looks at Let me." He says me as she waves her hand in the air and another sword identical to the one at my feet appears which she hands to Everett. "Remember what I taught you, do not fail!" She hisses as she backs up. I crouch and take the sword into my hand. The fire crackles loudly, causing Everett to smirk. "Well, she isn't screaming. Not long left though." He taunts.

My grip tightens on the sword before I yell and swing at him, the clang of metal against metal echoes off the trees as Everett blocks my lunge. "Nice try, but not good enough." He chuckles as he swiftly knocks my sword away. I twist away from his sword but the blade still slices my right cheek. My stance falters but luckily I regain my composure before Everett comes back at me. This time I'm ready for him, I quickly swing knocking his sword to the side. Everett stumbles with the force of my attack giving me the time I need to lunge, stabbing my sword into his chest. I frown at the sound and the barrier my sword seems to hit. Everett's eyes widen as he looks down at his chest before a smirk crosses his chest. "You're such an idiot, Danny." Everett chuckles. I gasp as a sharp, strong pain enters my chest. I look down and see a dagger buried to the hilt into my chest. Everett pushes my sword away and it clatters to the ground. "Did you really think Lilith would let me die?!" He scoffs. "Your friends trust me. Lilith wiped Francesca's memory of your abduction. I'm valuable." He smirks as he twists the dagger. I hiss in pain as blood soaks into the front of my shirt. My hand lands on his shoulder and squeezes tightly. "NO!" A high-pitch scream sounds. Everett head turns, he quickly turns back, pulling the knife out before plunging it into my stomach and twisting it 360 degrees. The pain becomes too much and I lose consciousness.

"Daniel?" A soothing voice speaks, as I feel light pressure on my face. My eyes flutter open and I see a dark blurry figure in front of me. The fact that it was now pitch black didn't help my eyes to focus as well as they did last time. I blink a couple of times and Luce's concerned face gradually came into focus. Her hair was hanging on either side of her face, softly brushed my cheeks. She was leaning over me, her eyes scanning my face with a high level of concern. "Luce." I breathe softly, my hand reaching up, cupping her cheek softly. She lets out a breath in relief, her eyes closing as one of her hands covers mine. I frown as I look at her hand and notice it's coated in blood. I look her over. "Did they hurt you?" I growl. Her eyes reopen, "Other than a couple of burns, I'm okay." She says softly as she lowered her hand from my hand. "The blood's yours." She says weakly as she realized why I had asked the question. "I was so worried, when Everett stabbed you! I thought—I thought." She trailed off. "I don't know what happened but suddenly I was free, Everett pushed you aside and you fell to ground. I dove at Lilith as she was nearest but she disappeared before I could reach her, Everett had gone too. By the time I got to you, you were in a pool of blood. I thought I lost you." She sobbed as her tears began to shine with water. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her to me. "Stop! I'II hurt you more!" Luce protested through her sobs as her head met my chest. "You won't, you're just the thing to make me feel better." I reply as I twirl a strand of her hair around my index finger. Luce continued to wrap her arms around me. "I'II make them pay! For what they've put you and everyone else through." She growled in the most aggressive tone, I've ever heard her use. "What doesn't kill people makes them stronger." I reply causing Luce to let out a breathy laugh. "You must be insanely strong then." She smirked. I chuckle softly and wince at the pain. Luce moves from my arms and looks at me before checking my wounds. "How long have I been out?" I ask her as I look down at my wounds that haven't yet healed "About an hour." She replies. "For some reason our wounds aren't healing like they used to." She adds as she examined my wounds which she had bound with what looked like strips of fabric. "I tore my jacket up, to dress the wounds." She explained as she bent down and gently kissed the gash on my cheek that wasn't dressed. I slowly prop myself up on my shoulders and look into her eyes and all I see is pain. "You lied before, it's not just burns! What did they do to you?" I ask softly, placing my hands soothingly on her face causing her to look straight into my eyes. My lips twitch downwards, before a tear ran down her cheek, which I gently brushed away with my thumb. "They..." She let out a shaky breath. "They took my wings." She answered, before looking down. "What?" I gasp. My eyes widen before I notice the blood coating the sides and most probably the back of her shirt. "They cut them off." She cried lamentably. I felt rage swelling up inside me until I felt like I was going to burst. "Who?" I ask through clenched teeth. "Lilith's minions." She sobbed. "We'll get them back." I said reassuringly. "Come on, we better get going before they come back." I sigh as I painfully get to my feet. I help Luce to her feet and gently slip an arm around her back and another beneath her knees before lifting her up as my wings unfurl. A smile crept onto Luce's lips as she placed her head against my shoulder. "I've missed this." She sighed. I kiss her head softly. "I have to." I answer before I kick off into the air and fly towards our hotel. Luce dozed off before we even landed, today's events finally taking their toll. I land near the villa, Mom and Dad decided to rent after spending three days in a hotel after the fire at home. Mom and Dad came running out. "What happened?" Mom asked, her eyes falling on Luce's blood soaked back. "Lilith sliced her wings off." I answer and can't help but smile at the shock on their faces. "Daniel?" Dad asks inquisitively. "Hello Steven." I smile. I gently place a now half awake Luce on her feet and gently pass her on to Francesca. "Can you help her for me, while I get Steven up to speed?" I ask Francesca, whose arm automatically circles Luce to keep her upright before carefully leading her off. "You remember!" Steven grinned as he clapped me on the back. I smiled back. "It's so good to be back to my normal self." I smile. "I bet! Okay, so what did you need to tell me?" He asks and I begin to tell him about what had happened today and of Everett's Betrayal before he started to catch me up on what was going on, while I was in the dark.

* * *

I shiver and flinch as Francesca softly dapped at the wounds on my back. "I should have known!" She muttered angrily to herself. "Don't blame yourself, Everett played his cards well." I sigh before hissing in pain as Francesca placed her hands gently on my shoulder. "I'm sorry, but this is the only way I can think of to heal you quick." She apologizes as the sharp consistent stabbing pains began a crescendo effect until there seemed to be no break to the pain. My fingernails dug sharply into skin shoving through the tears in the jeans. Just as the pain seemed unbearable it quickly faded away to soothing waves of relief. "Thank-you." I slur slightly drunken in the pleasure of being rid of the pain that had been irritating me for the past six or so hours. "I called the others and told them that Daniel has returned but they said that they'd come over tomorrow, they want to give you two some alone time." Francesca smiled as she threw my blood soaked shirt into the bin and passed me a very thin blue sweater that despite the thinness to the fabric wasn't see through. "Thanks." I smile as I carefully wiggle into the sweater. I shuddered in pleasure at the sweater's softness as it brushed my skin. I looked up at Francesca and she had a deep sadness in her eyes. "I'm so sorry about your wings, Lucinda." She frowned as her hand gently landed on my shoulder. "Don't be, I'm going to get them back." I say determined as I get to my feet. Francesca then proceeds to lead me back to the sitting room where the timbre murmurs of Daniel and Steven become louder and louder until finally they came into view. Both men stood as Francesca and I entered the room, we splintered apart. I walked to Daniel's side on one end of a coffee table and Francesca walked towards her husband. We all sat and discussed the day's events before moving on to what we would do. "I think it'll be wise, to leave here. To go to Alaska, where Cam said a camp of Luce's followers are preparing for the end of days." Steven announced. "A camp? How many followers exactly are in this camp?" Daniel asked, his hands joined as he leant forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "We don't have an exact number, more and more join but the last tally was just over three thousand but that was a week ago, it's probably near twenty thousand by now." Francesca stated. "They need to see you, Luce. At the moment, they are training with a vague memory of who you are. They need to know who their ally is and why they should stay your ally. Everyone knows _of_ you, but for now it's almost like they are fighting for a ghost." Steven adds, gaining eye contact with me. "I couldn't agree more." I nod. "We'll just need to tell Michael of our change of venue, after all I only have two days left to prepare to fight Lilith." I say. "Michael's in the camp, Luce. He's training some of the other angels and demons. Just not as intensively as he's training you." Francesca declared. I nod. "It's settled then." Daniel states as he straightens. Steven and Francesca stand. "We'll inform the others of our decision. We'll meet you there." Steven says. Daniel and I nod. Once they've left, I lean back into the couch and sigh. "What? What's wrong?" Daniel asks concerned as he looks at me. I half smile as I look back at him. "Nothing, it's just annoying that we're back where we were before. Just minus Lucifer attempting to wipe away seven millennia's worth of history." I frown as my gaze locks with his. "As anything ever happened the way we planned?" Daniel counters. I smirk as I shift until I am straddling Daniels legs. "Well if everything went the way I had planned from the start, I'd probably be the queen of hell right now." I sigh. Daniel's hand reaches up and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. "I would have stopped you, no matter what…. It's just the type of selfish man I am." He argued. "You're not selfish." I chastise. "Really?" He scoffs. "The first day I saw you in Heaven you were with Gabbe before the Throne and when you turned to walk in my direction, my eyes never left you. All I could think was how much I wanted to follow you, to know you. After I finished my business with one of the higher archangels, I ran all over the Meadow searching for you, that's when I found you with Lucifer. His arms were around you and I felt my hands clench and thoughts I had never had before entered my mind. I was jealous. As the days went on, I noticed how you're light seems to lessen day by day until I found you, neck deep in cloudsoil crying your eyes out, your light was barely there anymore. I needed to help you, I disregarded the duties and responsibilities I had to fulfil that may and went to your aid. I was punished harshly for the disregard of my jobs for that day, though it was worth it! That punishment brought me to where I am now. With you." Daniel half-smiled as he stroked my cheek. "Gosh! How do I manage to bring out the worst in people?" I tease as I gently place my forehead on his and close my eyes. Daniel chuckled softly. "You'll be the ruin of me, Lucinda." He said softly with more affection than I have ever heard him use. "As will you." I agree before his lips are gently against mine. His hands move from my face to circle and waist and pull me closer until I can't tell where the line of his chest begins and ends. My hands ruffle his hair. "Lucinda." He breathes against my lips. I shiver at the warmth of his voice. Before I know it, Daniel has somehow gotten to his feet and I lock my legs around his waist anchoring me to mine, his lips never leave mine as he carefully climbs the stairs and nudges open his bedroom door with his shoulder. He carefully deposits me on the bed. I scramble backwards until I am fully on the bed. Daniel follows and places his hands on the mattress on either side of my head as he gazes down into my eyes. The moonlight bleaching his hair, shoulders and back. "I thought I was going to lose you today." He whispers. I half smile as my hands reach up and take his face in my hands. "You'll never lose me." I say back softly. Silence follows as we look into each other's eyes. Communicating how we both know that I can't speak with certainty over our future, knowing that he may very well lose me in the next couple of days if I fail to defeat Lilith. I gently guide his face to mine and close my eyes as my lips skim his. He deepens the kiss immediately with urgency and longing. This kiss takes my breath away. His fingers play with the hem of my sweater and I break away from him and carefully remove the sweater, tossing it into the surrounding darkness. Daniel's eyes gaze over my body, causing red splotches to appear on my chest trailing up my neck to my cheeks. He swallows as his eyes finally meet mine again. "You're so beautiful." He breathes before his lips crush mine again, I gently pull his shirt from his body, my fingers dance over his muscular torso. Before long, the rest of our clothes have joined our shirts in the darkness. "Are you sure?" Daniel's suddenly husky voice asks. "Never, have I ever been more sure of anything in my life." I agree nodding. His lips come back down on mine as we pull the duvet over ourselves and press our bodies together until we no-longer can tell where I end and he begins.


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen **

I huffed out swirling, opaque clouds into the frigid Alaskan air, grimacing as my back screamed in protest at the sudden impact of crashing and slipping across the unrelenting ice. I hungrily gulped in ice-cold air that caused my chest to seize and ache and brought tears to my eyes. I swiped the water from my eyes as a shadow glided upwards from my feet until it covered my entire body. I looked up to see Michael smirking with his hand extended towards me. "That was definitely something to witness! I don't think I've ever seen a warrior of mine renact Bambi's first encounter with ice before." He teased as I grasped his hand in mine before he pulled me back to my feet. Steadying me before releasing me. "Why, are we even training on ice?" I groaned as I gingerly rubbed my back soothingly. "Well, Lucinda. I am more than confident in your swordsmanship skills, in my opinion you are as ready as you can be but your footwork." He paused glancing down at my legs -which I had locked in place to ensure I didn't take another tumble.- and then my feet. He clucked his tongue once before he looked me in the eyes once again. "Well, you have no sense of what you're doing in that department." He states, as he crosses his arms over his chest. "How polite!" I say rolling my eyes. I feel triumphant when I see one corner of his lips twitch upwards into what could have been a smile. Lately he lacked the humour he normally possessed. I put it down to the fact that it was no longer just us; My followers were in close proximity and within my group of followers were some of Michael's warriors. Obviously his training sessions with them weren't as humour-filled as ours. "The ice will help you become more calculating and precise in your movements." He explains. "As we have already witnessed, without these factors you have a greater chance of wiping out." He smirks as I stumble, my arms frailing out to help regain my balence. "I doubt I'd wipe out on actual ground." I argue. "Lucinda, we have no idea, where this battle will take place! Also, if you are able to fight me on the ice. You'll be much more unpredictable on... as you put it, actual ground." He smirks. "I'm predictable?" I ask, looking down at my grey jean clad legs and my black combat boots and their positions on the slick ground. "Maybe that was a bit harsh, you are not _too_-predictable but you have a habit of constantly giving off body language during a fight, giving your enemy the upper hand as they can then predict what your next move is going to be and how to counter it." He explains as he circles me, adjusting my stance ever so slightly before he hands me my sword. I tumble precariously on the ice at the extra weight but manage to right myself before I slump to the ground. I hear a chuckle and growl softly before I regain my previous composture and look upon Michael with narrowed eyes. "Ready? _En Garde_!" Michael yells as he easily gets into his fighting stance on the ice.

I groan as I trudge painfully through the thick blanket of snow back to the camp site that accomodated my small army. Every bone ached after the multiple falls on the cold, hard ice. Each fall had brutally rattled every bone in my body over and over again. Taking my breath away each and everytime. Michael and I had fought upon the ice until, I became much more confident in moving across the ice without faltering. Basically we trained from the break of dawn until dusk. As the sun neared the snow capped peaks of the mountains to the west and scorched the clear blue skies with soft oranges, vibrant oranges and strokes of pink, we decided to call it a day. We schedueled our last training session and then parted ways. As I neared the small emcampment,The tents making up the emcampment were white and most were a large variation of a teepee. Smoke rose through the holes in the top of a few of the tents, one being the Forge. The Forge was the nearest tent to me, and the harsh clang of metal smashing metal into shape followed shortly after by the hiss of hot metal being submerged into a pool of cold water rung through my ears as I neared the tent. . As I passed the forge, our angelic blacksmith, Machidiel saluted me and I smiled and nodded at him in acknowledgement. When Daniel and I arrived here a week ago, I was expecting my followers to judge me on my lack of knowledge of warfare as well as my incompetence as a leader. Though I was surprised when they welcomed me and never faltered in their loyalty ever since. The war hadn't started on the day Lilith had said it would instead we all trained and waited and repeated with the dawn of each day that followed. The next sound the reach me was the quick whissh and thuds of arrows slicing through the air and hitting their targets. A line of archers stood to my left, each obviously being masters in the art of Archery with their precision and ability to nock an arrow and fire with a true aim faster than a blink of an eye. I stood and watched in awe. "Commander Lucinda!" A voice called, drawing my attention away from the archers. I turned to see a short, chubby angel whom I didn't recognise, running in my direction. "Cambriel requires your presence immediately." He stated between pants. "Thank-you, uhhh, soldier. I relieve you of your duty as messenger, return to your work." I say hesitantly before turning in the direction of Cam's tent.

I pushed aside the flap of tough cloth that hung in the entrance way of the warfare strategies tent. As I entered the tent I noted that the murmurs of the angels and demons in the tent had stopped as all of their eyes fell upon me. This tent was the biggest in the camp. Lining the left and right borders of the tent were all sorts of tech, from computers, to a massive glass wall showing the images from multiple UAV Aircrafts on it's surface. Some angels and demons were positioned around the telegraph machines which constantly produced a cacophony beeping as they communicated through morse code with our allies further afield. Heaters were positioned throughout the tent also to ward off the brutal Alaskan cold. "Lucinda." A voice called and I turned to see Cam stepping out from a huddle of demons who were occupying one of the telegraph machines. He bowed his head slightly in respect. "Cambriel." I say tersely with just as much respect. I looked around after noticing that the beeping of the telegraph machines had stopped, I frowned as I noticed the unease of the other angels and demons surrounding me with the exception of Steven, who smiled at me encouragingly through one of the glass screens positionedin the far corner of the tent where he had been analysing the intel recieved from one of the UAVs though it was obvious something was bothering him. I returned my confused gaze to Cam. "What's going on?" I ask before noticing a massive map of the world spead out on the table in the middle of the room with colour coded pins implanted every so often. The blue pins indicated groups of allies that were positioned everywhere around the globe, looking for intel on who was following Lilith and her plans. The red indicated the positions of our enemies and sadly there were more red than blue thumb-tacks planted on the map and then there were the green pins clustered in an area probably around 100km southwest of our position. "What is that?" I ask pointing to the green pins. "That would be Lilith's forces, Commander." An angel answered. I stared at him in disbelief. "One of our warriors infiltrated their forces about a week ago and continued with them north and was only now able to tell us their position a short while ago." Cam explains. "An inside man." I gasp, shaking my head. "So what exactly are we dealing with?" I ask with renewed enthusiasm. "According to our insider, there are maybe, double our troops fighting for Lilith within this particular camp and more continue to join her ranks." Steven said as he appeared in clear view from the glass screen. "They seem to be camping and staying put for a while, he'll inform us when the company is on the move once again." Another demon adds. I sigh and push my hands up my face and my fingers raked through my hair. "They're so close. How long would it take them to reach us?" I ask as I look at the meagre distance between my army and Lilith's. " Approximately an hour and a half by foot." A demon says as he steps forward and starts pointing at the map. "We are going to station two group here and here, to prevent them from attempting to flank the camp." I nod along as he outlines the plan. "Are we vulnerable from an attack, if Lilith has another company coming from the north?" I ask. "No, Commander, we have set up three lines of defenses along here. The first line of defense is a canyon, which was one of the factors of why we chose this spot for the camp. It's very wide but it's still potentially crossable. The second line of defense are hellhounds, that belonged to most of our demon allies. The last defense is another group of warriors." An angel close to the map explains. I nod in approval. "You, just keep your mind on defeating Lilith, we'll take care of the rest, Commander." A demon smiles at me, everyone nodded and made noises of approval except for Cam, whose eyes fell at the mention of Lilith's name. I turned back to my troops with a smile. "You have no idea, how grateful I am for each and every single one of your co-operation in the past few weeks. Especially since _I_ am the one in command and we all know of my lack of skills with regard to warfare." I smile at them as they all grin back. "You saved us from Lucifer's plan, we owed you." Someone near the telegraph machines states. "Is that all?" I ask. They all nod. "Well, then dismissed, I guess." I state hesitantly. Everyone left the tent heading towards their own tents to go for a much earnt rest. I turned and found Cam still inside the tent with his hands placed shoulder-length apart on the map, his head bowed slightly so his long hair fell enough that I couldn't see his emerald-green eyes. "So, where's Grigori?" He asks huskily. "He went out with the dawn patrol, he should be back soon." I answer as I fell into one of the chairs by the map.

Silence fell between us, broken by the hum of the heaters. "Cam? About Lil-" "I don't want to talk about it, Luce!" He snapped before I could finish saying her name. "You need to though, Cam! I'm worried about you." I say, Cam finally lifted his head and his agonised emerald-green eyes caught my concerned eyes and held them. "If you go into battle the way you are now and you see Lilith..." I trail off and release a shaky breathe "I'm already going to be responsible for multiple deaths, I don't want you to be one of them...Look, I can't begin to imagine what you are going through. Losing the one you love, to move on and let that person go only to have them show up and suddenly be your enemy. I care about you too much to watch Lilith destroy you, Cam." I say as he rounded the table until he was stood right in front of me. His eyes looked profoundly sadness. "You're stronger than this, I know it's hard but don't let her destroy you. We need you, Cam!" I say softly as I give him a hug. He exhales and his arms wrap around me, pulling me closer into him as he burys his face into my dark hair. We stand like that for a while before he releases me. "I'm sorry, I know I've been...distant since we found out it was Lilith." He sighs. "Don't be. You loved her, Cam. We all know that." I smile. "I just need some time...to myself." He says, looking at me. I nod as I go to take my leave. "Oh! And Luce?" He calls. "Yeah?" I call as I turn. "You're not going to be responsible for any deaths. Lilith is." Cam says softly. I half-smile and nod. "If you need me just call." I say before I push aside the cloth flap and step out into the freezing night.

I kick up snow as I walk back towards my tent, mulling over the latest news. Lilith's force's were twice ours. I sigh and watch as my exhaled breath clouds in the air and swirls upwards. The further from the centre of the camp I got, the quieter and less-luminated it got. I was fixated on Lilith, like I was in nearly every single waking moment recently. I constantly tried to remember each move she had ever made in a fight, eithr with me, like when she tried to shove me into that cage and when Daniel had gone head to head with her and Everett. Before I knew it, I was climbing the small snowbank behind my tent and gazed up at the shimmering ribbons of different coloured lights in an attempt to relieve Lilith's hold from my mind. Standing here always worked and felt myself smile. Despite all the changed to my character lately at least my interest in natural phenomenons and astronomy hadn't gone away. It was hard to see the stars behind the vibrant Aurora Borelis but I could vaguely make out a few constellations behind the ribbons of light. My mind flashed black to my last life when I was a student in Shoreline and how Daniel and I used to sit on the ledges on the roof and gaze up at the Californian night-sky. I was so transfixed by the Alaskan night-sky and the flash-back that I never noticed, a figure approaching from behind until cold hands grasped my shoulders. My eyes widened in brief panic and alarm before I reached behind me and grabbed the arm and twisted. The intruder cried out and something thumped and sunk into the snow. By the time I noticed the golden hair, I had twisted Daniel's arm behind his back and managed to bring him to his knees "Dammit Luce! Ow!" He yelped as I released him, he immediately brought his arm to his chest and cradled it slightly "Oh God! I'm so sorry." I say as I grasped his shoulders and cocked my head to the side trying to see his face. He turned to face me and amusement replaced the pain that I had expected to find written over his face. He grabbed me and pulled me down onto the snow, so that coldness of the snow seeped into the fabric of my sweater causing me to gasp in surprise.

Daniel then rolled over so he was above me. "At least I know that you can defend yourself against a surprise attack but you really need to learn not to let your guard down" He mused with one eyebrow cocked as he planted a kiss on my nose. "You should know to never sneak up on a lady, it's very unbecoming of a gentleman." I teased. "Oh! So I'm a gentleman am I?" He smirked, raising his eyebrows in a suggestive manner. "And in what world are you a lady?" He chuckled. I roll my eyes in reply earning a chuckle. "You're cute when you're annoyed at me." He smirked, causing me to titter. Daniel's violet eyes skimmed over my body. "Hello by the way." I say. "Hey beautiful." He chuckles as one of his hands moves from it's position in the snow by the side of my head to stroke my face. I gasp and push his hand away "Your hands are freezing." I scold. A mischevious look crosses Daniel's face. "Daniel! No. I mean it. No!" I warn but I'm too late he shifts so he's on his side and his freezing hands slip just under my sweater and top pressing into my warm skin. I gasp and try and push him away but he holds firm and then we slip and spin down the snow bank. Daniel laughs. "You're an idiot." I laugh affectionately as I push my hands against his chest. "Well that was a tremendous Lion King moment." He chuckles and pulls me closer before kissing me hard on the mouth. "Mr. Green...or Grigori, Your love makes you too bold." I scold as I bat my eyelashes at him almost quoting him exactly for how he scolded me when we were in the closet before the premiere of Shakespeare's Henry VIII or All Is True as it was called at that moment in time. Daniel's whole face lightens at the memory. "I still can't believe how red you became when I undressed down to my undergarments." He teased. I smirked and rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah." I huff. He chuckled one last time, pecking my cheek. "So how was today?" He asks. "Great! Other than wiping out on ice and Michael applauding my reenactment of Bambi on ice." I say. Daniel laughs. "Yeah, I saw that. How's your head?" He asks. "Unbelievable." I smirk as I roll my eyes once again. Daniel laughs again. rolling onto his back. I smile as I watch him. The corners around his eyes are all creased with laughter. His eyes glow violet as he looked at me. His perfect white teeth gleam under the bleached light of the moon when he smiles. The snow we're lying on catches in his blonde hair and slowly melts, staining his golden hair, a shade darker. He catches my cold hand in his and brings it to his mouth, placing a gentle kiss on each knuckle before he cupped my hand in both of his and blew warm air onto it. "I've missed this." I whisper. "Me too." He sighed as he brought my hand to his chest, my fingers automatically closing on the fabric of his shirt. His arm circles my waist pulling me through the snow until my chest is against my hand that and his chest. His lips press against forehead. "After all this is over, we'll buy a house together, wherever you want. Even if we can't have a family of our own, we could also do what Francesca and Steven did and adopt. We'd just have to change our appearances to make ourselves look older." He said and I could feel him smile against my forehead. Water stings my eyes as I imagine that life. "Sounds like a plan...We're not having a hockey team's worth." I smirk half-heartedly, blinking away the tears as I remember how just a few months ago, we had talked about our future. Where over dinner he had laughed at my face when he declared that he wanted six kids least to say, I personally wasn't taken with the idea of having six kids. "Three kids-perfect. Four-Five kids-stressful. Six kids...now Daniel that would be chaotic." I had exclaimed. "Exactly! What is life without a challenge?" He had teased followed by a wink. That night we had discussed our hopes and dreams for the future but of course being us we had a good laugh while discussing it. I just didn't know that, that moment was probably the turning point in our relationship where he decided that he was going to propose to me that summer.

Daniel laughed at my comment. His breath warming my forehead. "Your face was a keeper that night." He mused. I laughed softly. "I bet! You try being told that you may have to carry and birth six kids!" I chuckle. Daniel laughs again as he gently squeezes my waist. I move my head until I can see the Northern Lights and the stars. Daniel's head turns as well. He points out a few constellations that I didn't know before. "Look!" I gasp as I point up, as a faint line of light shoots across the sky. "A shooting star." Daniel grins. "Well then, make a wish." He whispers in my ear. I grin as I make my wish. After a few more minutes we stand up and brush the snow off our clothes. His arms wrap around me, I rest my cheek against his chest and listen to him breathing and the rhythmic beat of his heart. "Did you mean what you said before? About being happy to marry me, if the situation wasn't as it was?" He asks. I looked up at him to find him looking back down at me. The look in his violet eyes reminding me of how he looked when I first told him no. Vulnerable. This time there was more hope in his eyes. "What do you think?" I whisper. "I wanted the life we discussed as much as you did. Get Married. Buy our first home with a white picket fence. Play football or whatever other game with the kids in the yard and then when the time came to sit on our porch when we were old and reminisce about our lifes. Nothing would ever make me happier than to share that with you. You had ruined me for other men or guys." I smile up at him. His eyes fill with love, need and a hint of despair. Probably at the fact, that we would never get the life we had dreamt of together. He then swallowed as he released my hands and fumbled around in his pocket. I frown slightly as I watch him before realization hit me. "Daniel..." I whisper. "Please Luce, just let me give this another try." He pleads before his hands reappeared from his pocket holding the same ring as last time. The ring of white gold with a huge crystal clear diamond in the middle and four smaller diamonds of the same clarity embedded in the ring on either side of the larger diamond. The big diamond reflected the shimmery colours of the Northern Lights above back into my face as I gazed down at the ring. "Lucinda." Daniel said shaky. "I've loved no-one but you from the beginning of time. I have cherished each and every moment we had together through the agony of our curse and have treasured each moment with you since we broke the curse . I know I don't deserve such an amazing, beautiful creature such as yourself but I will work tirelessly every day to try and deserve you. My life will never be complete unless I have the honour of being the last person you see at night and the first person you see every morning. I promise to love and cherish you in a way that no other man possibly could forevermore. I love you, Lucinda with all my heart and soul. If you don't think me too bold, would you do the honour of marrying me?" He finishs, his gaze never leaving mine. Tears blur my vision and my hands that cover my mouth and nose in a prayer like pose shake ever so slightly. "Yes. Why on earth wouldn't I?" I ask as I throw myself into his arms. His hands grip me tightly and hold me close to him. "Thank, God!" He breathes with a breathy chuckle. I pull back slightly and watch as he gently takes my left hand in his as if it were made of the finest glass and carefully slides the ring down my ring finger. After the ring's on, I kiss him deeply. "I love you so much, Daniel! So much it hurts." I breathe out between kisses as tears flow freely down my face. He hold on to each other for a few more minutes. Little did we know but something dreadful was happening. We both jump at the loud noise that pierces the night. The sound reminded me of the Woodland Realm Horn the elves used in the second 'The Hobbit' movie. When an elf used it to get the elves at the water gate to close the gate. It was coming from the rear of our camp. I break free from Daniel and run in the direction of the snow bank. "Lucinda!" Daniel calls as he gets to his feet and chases after me. I stumble up the snow bank, falling several times as the snow fell away from under my feet. Once I get to the top of the bank. I look out at the land in front of me. I wish I hadn't.

Flames licked the sky where I'm guessing the group of warriors who were our last line of defense against attacks at the back of the camp were posted. I gape in horror at the army that marches forward through the flames. To the right and left flanks of our camp, the same horns sound again. Daniel pulls on my arm, pulling me back down the snow bank and runs with me in the direction of my tent. "Get your armour on now!" He orders as we enter the tent. I quickly strip down and hurriedly dress into the the clothes that came with my armour and then finally with Daniel's help I put on the my heavy skyforged silver coloured chestplate -which was forged with an unearthly metal- and all the other bits of armour Machidiel had forged for me. I frown as I hear a hiss like sound and realise that a scabbard has been added to my armour. "Your old angelic sword, for if you ever needed to defend the Throne. It's weighted and balanced the same way as the sword you were practicing with, with Michael. It's a much better quality sword than the one you have already" He states as his hands run off my armour making sure everything is where it's supposed to be before he secured my helmet to my head which was like the Elven Skyrim helmet expect mine was silver. "I'm fine! Come on, you need to go get your armour!" I say as we run out of the tent and make our way to his tent as warriors charge everywhere as they hurriedly try and prepare themselves for battle. As we run I silently curse whoever decided that my tent should be situated on the complete opposite side of the camp of Daniel's tent. "Almost there!" Daniel calls to me as he grasps my armoured gauncelet clad hand. My lungs burn at the rapid intake of the ice-cold air but I push on. Just as he reach Daniel's tent I watch in horror as with a loud thump, an arrow embeds into Daniel's chest. He grunts and keels over, falling to his knees. "Daniel!" I gasp as I stop and fall to my knees beside him and rage seethes through me at the pain written all over his face. I look up to find his attacker and gasp. I feel myself pale at the sight of the attacker and my heart momentarily stops. Her beautiful long blonde hair flies infront of her face in the breeze but the black eyes are unmissable through her thick locks. The archer who hit Daniel was..Gabbe.


	20. Chapter 19

So so so sorry for not updating. Don't have any excuses other than Uni being hectic and a hectic summer….So here's the long awaited update, I'II do my hardest to update more regularly :) Don't forget to review to let me know what you think :) Thanks for sticking with me.

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**Chapter Nineteen**

_Whoosh! _A sickening _thump_ occurred before Daniel yelped out in pain as another arrow hit him, this one followed the same course as the last but was one deadly inch closer to his heart. I gazed up at Gabbe in shock. "Gabbe!" I gasped out only to be met with a growl before an arrow tore through the air missing my shoulder by a hairsbreadth. The initial shock and panic of the near hit sent me sprawling backwards away from Daniel. "Luce!" Daniel's pained voice spoke as another one of Gabbe's arrows became trained on him. "No!" I yelled before lunging at her, I took her by surprise and her arrow went wide by mere inches. I barrelled into Gabbe's slender form, sending us into the hard snow bank. Gabbe grunted at impact. "It's all your fault!" She hissed in my ear. "I wouldn't smell like a rotten corpse if you hadn't had to have saved Cam!" She snarled as she quickly gripped my shoulders, her long nails scratching against my armour as she spun and slammed my back into the snow bank which might as well have been a sheet of ice. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of metal and grasped her wrist just as the point of her dagger dug slightly into the side of my neck, drawing a small pinprick of blood to the surface "I was there for you! I protected you! He tried to take you for his own." She snapped as she added more force to the arm I was trying my best to push away. "This isn't you!" I gasp out. "The Gabbe I know, wouldn't look for vengeance, yes it was my fault and yes my decision will haunt me for the rest of my days! The Gabbe I know wouldn't hurt anyone" I snapped as I pushed against her slowly inching the knife away from my body. "Newsflash, The Gabbe you know is dead and it's all because of you!" She snarled as her other arm swung at my elbow, causing my elbow to buckle as she forced the blade to my neck.

A hand grabbed Gabbe by the hair, the other holding her wrist that had the knife in it and pulled her away from me. "Nice to see you again, princess!" Michael snarled into Gabbe's ear. "This isn't the way, one of the most higher up archangels should act." He spat as he threw her aside. "Go, Take Daniel to the medic tent. Get outta here." He ordered, his eyes trained on Gabbe, as she got back to her feet, hissing at him like a snake, her angelic grace was gone replaced by something completely animal. Her fingers were poised like a bird of prey's talons as it neared its prey and her eyes gleamed with absolute wrath and daggers. Her pupils so big, her blue irises merely rimmed the dark pits or her pupils. "Its not her Luce, just get outta here now!" He ordered once again, with an air of finality. I quickly went to Daniel, he was trying to pull the arrows out. I stop him. "You'll do more damage, let's get you to the medic." I say as I try and get him to his feet, but he slouches over in pain really falling back to his knees. I wrap my arms around him and put all my strength into keeping him up. I quickly glance back as I can hear Gabbe's animalistic screams as she battles Michael. The horn from before blows again, Gabbe's eyes widen at the sound. She quickly parries Michael's blow before kicking him backwards. Michael momentarily loses his balance on the slick surface. But a moment is all Gabbe needed to whirl around and slam her blade into Michael's black in between his wings before I was even given a chance to react. "NO!" I cry out as I see the bloody tip of Gabbe's blade protruding from Michael's chest. A look of shock and agony frozen on his face, as the colour slowly drains from his face and his knees shake. Gabbe places her foot on the small of his back and with a sickening squishing sound rips the blade from Michael's back, her lips moving into a satisfied smirk, as she looks at me, blood dripping from the blade. I don't hear her taunts before as I pull my sword from it's scabbard. "Don't!" Daniel croaks in pain as he tries to take my wrist but I'm already charging towards her. She knocks my blow away and I dodge her swing. "This has been fun but alas, I must go….until we met again, Luce!" She smirks before vanishing. I crouch beside Michael. "What the hell was that?" He groans softly "I told you to take Daniel and go to the medic!" He tries to snarl. "You and I both know, I never listen." I smirk as a tear runs down my face. "Ah! Please don't go all sloppy on me. A good warrior should expect nothing more than a death in a battle. The cowards hope to live to evade the un-known." He groaned his voice weakening, I feel Daniel behind me and he slowly kneels down beside me. "So I'm a coward than? because I hope to live?" I snap at him. He smirks. "My girl, you've died enough to know that death is actually the easy way out, we're all fools in love and in war. No one ever truly wins. Though that will and temper of yours will certainly be your undoing." He grunts as the snow surrounding him darkens from a bright red to a terrifying crimson. "Michael…Thank you, for everything." I sniff as more tears fall. "When they asked me to help you, I laughed, I thought it was hopeless. No way could anyone learn everything you have in the time we were given. But you did and for that I thank _you_ Lucinda Price for inspiring me. You can do this Luce. Just believe in yourself." He smiled at me. Of course the bastard would only smile at me, when he's about to die. Typically bloody Michael! "Now go, get him to the medic, god knows what that arrow's done! I'd like to be alone in my last few minutes." He finishes in a whisper as he closes his eyes. "Until we meet again, my friend." He adds. I swipe at my tears before turning to Daniel and help him back to his feet and together we stumble haphazardly towards the medic's tent…or at least where the medic's tent should have been.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Daniel screams as Raphael digs in further with his scalpel to try and locate the final shard of the obsidian arrowhead. Normally obsidian wouldn't shatter upon hitting bone but these arrows were made in such a way to inflict the most damage. I turn never releasing Daniel's hand -even though he's crushing all the bones in my hand together with his white knuckled iron grip- and dip the cloth back into the icy water and then turn back and gently wipe at the sheen of sweat along his brow and cool his face. "Just a little longer." I whisper softly into his ear as soothingly as I can. Francesca and Steven both stand at the wall of Raphael's tent. Francesca shifts restlessly from foot to foot and Steven's arm is wrapped around her, securing her to his side, the upper corner of his face near his hair line is bandaged concealing the stitches beneath. It never occurred to me how hard seeing Daniel hurt must be. They had raised him after all. To them he was their child. I looked at Francesca and she pulled away from Steven and came forward and went around to his other hand and took his other hand in hers and drew it close to her lips. "You're doing so well! just a little longer, son." She soothed in her honey thick voice. Daniel grunted and gasped out in pain before letting out another cry before Raphael grabbed the forceps and in one swift motion pulled out the final obsidian shard. "There we are. That was deep." He informed us. "You're damn luckily it wasn't more to the right!" He tutted and he then took up his needle and thread and began to sew the skin back together. I placed a gentle kiss to Daniel's temple. "Never take an arrow for me again." I growl softly into his ear. His mouth moves from its pained grimace into a grin. "Better me than you, my love. " He whispers back. I shake my head as I wipe the sweat from his brow once more. "If you die needlessly, I swear to god, Grigori or Greene or whatever you call yourself. I will find you and kill you in a way that's ten times worse." I smirk back. "I don't doubt it." He smirks before he hisses. "Last one." Raphael promises as he carefully does the final stitch and secures it. An angel I've never seen before enters the tent but keeps his eyes to the ground. "Commander Lucinda, Cambriel's sent for you. He says its important." The angel says. I nod. "I'II be right there." I say as Daniel goes to sit up. I place a hand to his hot skin. "What are you doing?" I ask. Daniel's brow furrows in confusion. "Umm…..going with you." He answers. "No, you're going to stay here and rest you lost a bit of bone and snapped you're clavicle and get needs dressing!" I say pointing at the wound that's now stitched but still weeping blood and before he can protest, I press my lips to his. "I'II be five minutes, not a second more." I promise against his lips as the kiss finishes. He groans. "Not a nanosecond more." He agrees before lowering himself back down. "Cross my heart." I promise as I peck his cheek before standing keeping hold of his hand until I take my first step away from him.

"What will we do now?" Cam asks as he paces back and forth in his tent, one side of the canvas dropping to the ground prematurely, blood splattering it's white fabric. Luckily our numbers only suffered minorly. Altogether we lost around fifteen warriors from our group of seven hundred and fifty. Though our make shift armoury was set alit destroying most of our weaponry. "We'll figure it out, We still have an army at least. A more enraged one, dare I say." I sigh. "Michael' loss, has hit the group hard." He agrees and he stops and looks at me. "I'm sorry for your loss by the way. I know you too became close." He sighs. My lips twitch into a frown momentarily before I regain composure. "He wants us to win this. I won't let him down." I croak out before I clear my throat. "You can cry you know I won't hold it against you." He slightly smiled at me and at his words I broke down. My arms started to tremble as the built-up fear, pain and grief washed over me like a tidal wave. My eyes blurring with tears as I hugged my trembling arms to my body as I felt arms wrap around me. "Sometimes I forget that you are just twenty-two…..the oldest I've ever seen you though." Cam smirks into my hair as he holds me to him. "She was there. Gabbe was there, she killed him." I sobbed. I felt Cam frown into my hair. "Lu, what's dead stays dead, it was most probably one of Lilith's followers who could tell your weakness or grievances and shape shift to prey upon that weakness. I promise you Luce, it wasn't your fault. You never asked to be cursed. You never asked for Gabbe or Molly to sacrifice themselves for you. They did it because they loved and believed in you to do what no one could do, stop Lucifer. It was in no way your fault. They chose their fate, they've moved on Lu, wherever that is." Cam spoke softly as he stroked my hair. "You're so strong and brave, Luce but you can't save everyone no matter how hard you try." He continued in a soothing soft tone as he took my tear-stained face in his hands and looked me in the eye. "You've already saved the damn world once! Of course, there was going to be a price for that. You won't have to pay the price for this war, Luce. I swear to you. I'II raise hell before I let you pay again." He said sternly as his emerald eyes scorched into my hazel ones. "Please don't raise hell, I don't think I could deal with Lucifer at this precise moment." I whisper earning a grin from Cam. "There she is, there's the Lucinda I know." He grins. "You better get back to Grigori before he has heart failure. I'II deal with the preparations for tomorrow, just get some rest. You're going to need it. Doubt you'll be able to save the world on a couple of winks of sleep." He smirks before he sends me away.

On the way back to Raphael's tent I pass through the ruins of our camp, some of our makeshift buildings and tents are ablaze, dark clouds of smoke blocking out the wonderful Northern lights and twinkling stars. The flames climbing high into the sky as Angels and Demons alike argue over the best way to extinguish the flames. I shake my head and smirk to myself. At least some things never change. As I near Raphael's tent the hairs on my neck raise slightly. I try and shrug the feeling off as I enter the tent only to find, Raphael, Francesca, Steven and Arriane unconscious and Daniel gone. My eyes widen. "Daniel?!" I call looking around and find Raphael's small table of surgical instruments toppled, the sharp instruments scattered haphazardly across the tents floor and the ceramic bowl which was filled with the icy that I had cooled Daniel with, was nothing more than shards over the floor. A small moan filled the air, followed by a shudder from Arriane. "Arriane!" I gasp as I move carefully towards her, I gently move her and her eyelids flutter. "Arriane what happened?" I ask "Where's Daniel?" I ask. She says something incoherent and I lower my head until my ear is nearly right on her mouth. "What?" I ask. "I'm right here." A soft familiar voice says from behind me. I turn to see Daniel stood before me. Raphael had dressed the wound to his upper torso but something about him was…..off. "Are you okay?" I ask as I gently set Arriane back down before crossing towards him. He doesn't answer me, he merely watches as I cross the tent. "Dan-" I'm cut off by him slapping me across the face so hard, my eyes water at the sharp sting and I take a sharp intake of breath. He steps towards me in the way, Gabbe had but I knew for a fact this was him. I could see his soul within him. I retreat a couple of steps earning a triumphant grin from Daniel. "W-What?" I stutter as I place my palms in front of me. "Daniel..W-W-What are you doing?" I ask as he pulls out a starshot from behind him..He cocks his head to the side. "Where one shall stand, the other shall fall and have nothing at all." He hisses as he lunges at me with the blunt, deadly end of the starshot pointing at me.


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty**

* * *

My eyes widen as Daniel charges towards me. I feel the arrow slicing the air, way too close for comfort as I duck and dodge. "Daniel! Stop!" I cry out as he regains his composure and lunges again, this time the starshot sliced the sleeve of my parka coat before I could dodge. Way too close! I quickly grab the sword from Arriane's side and shakily point it at him as he turns to face me. My eyes widen as I notice the grey-violet eyes that I love so much have darkened into black pits of nothingness. Not one emotion to be seen. A sly grin twitches at his lips. "What have they done to you?" I whisper in shock "Why, my love. Don't you like it?" He sneers as he steps closer. "Daniel, It's me. It's Luce! Snap out of this!" I say helplessly as he takes another step forward. His eyes narrow into slits and his teeth bare at me like a rabid wolf. "This…...is all on you." He says waving the starshot in the air obviously motioning to the wreck that is our camp. "None of this would have happened if it wasn't for you! You just had to be different didn't you! Adoring God when we were in Heaven simply wasn't enough for you, you had to fall in love and bring everyone down with you! I lost everything because of you!" He snarls. My eyes narrow in response. "This isn't you." I say through clenched teeth. "Are you sure about that?" He smirks. "Maybe this is me, Luce. Maybe this is who I'm supposed to be. Everyone has darkness within them, some just have it suppressed deeper within themselves." He smirks as he lunges and grips the blade in his hand and pulled it from my grip, Blood poured from his hand and _pattered _noisily on the frozen earth. Daniel hunches over slightly groaning in pain as one arm circles his chest, the other throws the blade down towards the ground, blade tip embedding in the ground as he quickly takes a hold of the sword properly, the blood from his hand running down the swords grip before he raises it and points it at me. Red blooms through his freshly applied bandages, he must have pulled one of his stitches. "Daniel, please stop his you're hurt." I say weakly, my arms outstretched in front of me, my palms facing him in a form of surrender. "You!" He hisses stretching his arm out, raising the sword so it was level with my rapidly rising and falling chest. "Do you have any idea how miserable I have been and it's all because of you. Damn I even threw myself off a cliff because of you…Broke every single little bone in my body then Gabbe told me not to lose 'hope'." He smirked as he paced, holding the sword pointed at me. "What an idiotic concept. Hope. For what? That you'd overcome the curse and lead your friends, the ones you love to all of this? This misery, Warriors have lost their Commander. Loved ones have been lost and all because of you! You and that _snake!" _He hisses. Lucifer. He's talking about Lucifer, about our toxic relationship that swallowed me whole before Daniel found me. I was speechless, all I could do was watch the sword as it gleamed menacingly in the candlelight of the tent. I could see my hands tremoring in front of me as every single bit of advice Michael had given me for if I ever found myself in a situation like this, left my head. "Daniel, please. I know you and this isn't you!" I whispered as I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. The sword inched slower and I instinctively retreated a couple of steps. Daniel's lips split into a nasty ear-to-ear grin as he noticed. "Oh, but this is me, Love." He leered as he continued to step forward, causing me to retreat with each of his steps. My back hit something and I glanced behind me to see Raphael's medical cabinet. A tear slide down my cheek as I flattened my clammy palms against the cool wood. "Please. Daniel, please. I love you." I gasped only to be met by a sly smirk as his hand clutching his chest reached out and took a strand of my Midnight-Black hair between two of his fingers, before turning his black eyes back to me. His eyes captured mine and my only request would have been for his eyes to have stayed the same colour, even if they were full of hate. At least I would have gotten to see his eyes as I drew my last breath "Times up, my love." He jeered as he drew his arm holding the sword jerked forward.

Within a blink of an eye, rough hands seized me and pulled from the swords path. The sword thumped into the cabinets door, soon followed by a snarl of frustration by Daniel. "What the actual hell, Daniel!" Roland snapped at him. "What're you doing?! It's Luce!" He asked incredulously. Daniel ripped the sword from the door and pointed it in my and Roland's direction. "That thing is worse than the devil!" Daniel snapped gesturing to me with the point of the sword. "What?" Roland asked glancing from me to Daniel. "Daniel, it's Luce! What's gotten into you?" Roland scoffs in disbelief. "Brother, help me. All this will end once she's gone." Daniel continues. "Okay, what the actual hell Daniel! Snap out of whatever illusion you're under. If Luce dies so does the whole freaking world." Roland states as he steps so he's in front of me more. "Roland, don't test him." I beg as I grip his arm. Daniel releases a deep breath and looks almost sad. The only emotion I've seen on his face since I came back to the tent. "I'm sorry, my brother. I really am." He sighs as he advances, Roland draws his own sword from his hip and takes a step forward pointing his sword out and very quickly both Daniel and Roland are engaged in a deadly swordfight. Daniel swinging to brutally hurt or kill and Roland swinging to block and disarm. I remain speechless. I know I should fight with Roland. Help my friend. I should at least do something; Run, Distract Daniel, Move Francesca, Steven, Raphael and Arriane's unconscious bodies out of the way but I'm rooted to the spot. Even when Daniel finally catches Roland off guard. Roland had tried to parry Daniel's last strike but Daniel had bested him and shoved Roland's sword away with such force that it caused him to stumble and turn ever so slightly allowing Daniel enough time to deliver a blow to Roland's right arm. The arm he's fighting with. Roland cries out as his grip on the sword loosens and the sword falls and clatters to the ground. "No!" I cry as I finally move, rushing towards Daniel, trying to catch him off guard so Roland can recover but he merely bats me aside, my body slams into the metal table, Daniel had laid on when Raphael was removing the shrapnel of the arrow from his chest. Intense pain blooms in my side as I fall to the ground, gasping for air and turn just in time to see Daniel thrust his sword into Roland's chest, driving it far enough that the hilt hits Roland's chest, as the bloody blade protrudes. Roland's uninjured hand lands on Daniel's shoulder. As he looks into his friend's black eyes with a shock, pained face, before Daniel twists the sword within him. Roland lets out a choked gasp before Daniel rips the blade out and Roland falls forwards to the floor, groaning as he hits the floor. I stare at him wide eyed as Daniel turns on me, his sword dripping with Roland's blood as he moves towards me when suddenly Daniel is sent flying across the room, crashing into the side of the tent. I look back to see what caused him to do that only to find a man with wavy amber hair and icy blue eyes. Lucifer. His eyes never left Daniel as he walked towards me and took me by my upper arm and hauled me to my feet and pushed me behind him. Daniel slowly rose to his feet with a growl but didn't make move towards us. His eyes merely burned into Lucifer's. "Until we meet again….my love." He smirked before his wings unfurled and he ran for the entrance and his wings gave out a powerful beat and took him up into the Alaskan night sky. I quickly went to Roland who was lying in an expanding puddle of his own blood. I drop to my knees at his side and pale at the blood surrounding him "Roland." I whispered as I pushed up his shirt to look at the wound. "Luce…. Luce. There's nothing you can do." He whispered as his blood wet hand gripped mine. "Promise me, that you'll bring him back. That's not him, that arrow must have been laced with something. But if worst comes to worse, you kill him. End his misery, he may already be dead for all we know. But if anyone is going to bring him back it's going to bring him back, it's you Luce!" Roland whispered weakly his voice fluctuating between clear and a low barely understandable mumble. "I promise." I whisper back. "I'm so sorry Roland, so sorry!" I sob as tears stream down my cheeks. "You deserved better." Roland's lips twitch upwards. "As do you, Luce. As do you…." He sighs weakly his head lolls to the side slightly and he looks over at Arriane. "Take care of her for me, will you? She needs someone to keep her out of trouble and tell her I'm so sorry and that she was right." He asks softly as his eyelids narrow with loss of strength. "Of course, anything you want." I say as I tighten my grip on his hand. "Thank you." He says with a slight smile as his eyes finally close. His body becomes almost too bright before there is nothing beneath my hand but a layer of dust.

I lie in my bed, a sliver of sunlight beating against my closed eyelids as I replaying everything that happened last night. The horn, Gabbe's reappearance, Daniel's mini surgery, Bad Daniel, Lucifer swooping in, Roland's death. Afterward Roland was gone, Lucifer hadn't known what to say or do, so he simply left the tent though not before giving my shoulder a dainty squeeze. I knelt there, my shaking hands and knees covered in Roland's blood and the dust that once was Roland as Arriane and the others came to. Arriane had noticed me before the others, Francesca and Steven had drawn in a sharp breath. They probably thought that Daniel, their son had met his demise. Arriane had slowly approached and she wrapped an arm around me, whispering how sorry she was in my ear before I broke down completely. I wiped away the snot that dripped from my nose and the tears before explaining the whole situation to them. Arriane's tiny frame had tensed at the news, her eyes growing shinier and shinier before I told her that Roland had said that she was right and the tears began to fall. We clutched at each other and cried over the loss of our friend. I had never really been close to Roland but then again, I had never been all that close to Molly or Gabbe either but their deaths hit hard and Roland had been one of Daniel's best friends and was the Clyde to Arriane's Bonnie. He was one of the tricksters in our small family, an irreplaceable member who would leave a hole just as Molly and Gabbe had. Whatever Roland was referring to when he had hold me to tell Arriane she was right, it had hit Arriane hard. Annabelle had come and switched places with me and tried her best to console her sister but nothing could do it. I went to Francesca and Steven and explained what had happened and they told me what had happened after I had left. Maybe two minutes after I had left, Daniel's temperature began to climb and he started to convulse, Raphael had injected him with something to calm him but it didn't work and then as sudden as the convulsions had begun Daniel had stopped moving, his eyes closed and when he woke, his eyes were black and he had knocked Raphael unconscious first by smashing the basin over his head and then had fought both Francesca and Steven before managing to know both of them unconscious. Raphael once awake and able had taken one of the obsidian shards and started doing all sorts of chemical tests. He then confirmed that the arrowhead was laced but with a substance he had never encountered in his long years of practicing medicine. Francesca, noticing that my shaking didn't seize lead me back to my tent to rest, Steven decided to go to Cam to relay to him the events that had occurred since I had left him. Once in my tent, Francesca helped me into the bed and sat by my side and soothingly stroked my hair. "Nothing he said was true. You know, that right? That boy loves you more than life itself. Before you broke the curse, I remember the night he came to me. He was so concerned that you weren't adjusting to Shoreline. That you felt isolated. I assured him that you had made friends and were doing well in all your classes. His eyes were so sad and heavy looking but when I saw you both in that cabin at the site of the Fall. His eyes even though they were filled with concern held a happiness I had never seen before as you nestled in his arms. When you were asleep, we…. well I had asked if all this was worth it and he said, 'Every single moment.' He was only miserable when he was separated from you. Even this summer, you have no idea what he was like during the summers before this when you were both separated and then this summer, he was like a completely different person when he showed up with you." She smiled. I said nothing as she continued to stroke my hair. "Lilith knew what would hurt you and so she put those words in his mouth, as she would with any of her minions." Francesca promised. She then stood and went to get my flask from the table adjacent to my bed and set it on the floor by the bed. "If you need me for anything, just give a shout, I won't go far." She said giving my cheek a quick stroke before exiting my tent, I had heard commotion outside. I thought I could hear Cam's voice and then Francesca's but no one had entered the tent

Did she leave me ten minutes ago? An hour ago? "Lucinda?" An all too familiar voice called hesitantly. "Come in." I called back softly and watched as the devil ducked into my tent. "Well you look like hell." He grunted as he leant against one of the supporting wooden beams to my tent. "What do you want?" I asked as I propped myself up on my elbows. He tilted his head slightly as his icy eyes roved my face. "Are you okay?" He grunted uneasily, rolling his shoulder. It was obvious that the devil wasn't used to caring about anything. I arched an eyebrow. "I was nearly killed and one of my best friend just died." I replied, glaring at him. "Jeez, Sorry for asking." He replied narrowing his eyes at me. As he sighed. "What are you even doing here?" I ask. "Well Lilith's been getting under my skin and I want to make sure she gets taken care of…...but you don't even look fit to rip the head from a teddy bear." He countered. "Which makes me wonder, what else is going on? Normally you'd be enraged if any sort of injustice was committed against your friends and yet here you are moping around feeling oh so sorry for yourself." Lucifer continues. "Definitely not the Lucinda I knew." "You mean the Lucinda, you tricked into helping you rebel against the Throne? The Lucinda, you 'loved' yet made suffer by making her endure a horrible curse for seven millennia. The Lucinda, you basically told what to do?" I snarled at him. "Well, Thank the heavens! At least I'm not that gullible or stupid anymore." "There she is, There's the Luce Price version of Lucinda." Lucifer chortled to himself. "You really screwed up my life, you know that right?" I sighed. "Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, I'm not the one who forced you to become humans and who helped you realise what you were. You can thank your friends for that." Lucifer snapped. "Yes, she can." Another voice spoke up as five figures entered the tent. An angry looking Cam and a still grieving Arriane clutching Annabelle who was watching Lucifer suspiciously and a disgusted looking Francesca and Steven "She needed to realise what she was or she and Daniel would have died and you know it." Cam said to his superior. "Perhaps but now, your 'love' is going to tear the whole world down just to finish the task she first set out to do." Lucifer said bored as he pushed off the post. "Listen, if you should ever need me. I'II be around, watching but to be honest. I don't like her odds but the best of luck to you." He stated before leaving the tent. "The nerve of him." Annabelle hissed as her eyes followed him as he disappeared into the ruins of the camp. "And you chose _his _side?" Annabelle asked Cam incredulously. "Seemed like a good idea at the time." Cam said as he regarded me. "But he was right, Luce. You're acting weird. I know Daniel just tried to kill you and Roland died but normally you'd be gung-ho on fixing the mess ahead of you." Cam said as he approached the side of the bed, taking the seat that Francesca had previously occupied. Annabelle and Arriane both sat on the side of my bed but Francesca and Steven stayed put observing from just inside the door. I shifted uncomfortably. "You can tell us anything, you know that." Arriane smiled weakly as she took my hand. "We can't help you Luce, if we don't know what's wrong." Steven adds. I sigh as I sit up properly. "Well, I've been feeling weaker than usual lately and I spoke to Raphael about it not last night but the night before and he ran a couple of tests and well…" I start and take in the concerned faces of my friends. "I'm pregnant."


End file.
